I’ve always been fat, and I’ve always been a foodie. I had a very unhealthy relationship with food that I didn’t understand until later on in life. I spent day and night stuffing my face. My parents were concerned about my health and tried to keep me active with tennis and swimming, but I wasn’t interested and put in minimal effort. I was raised in Nigeria and moved to the United Kingdom for boarding school. When I arrived, I was a size 14, and within five years, I was no less than a size 22. I would eat dinner in the dining hall and then make noodles and hot sauce straight after. I did this every evening. To make matters worse, I was inactive and refused to play sports because I was subconscious about my weight; the most I did was walk to and from my classes and the dining hall.
I had a stomach ulcer since I was eight, and the doctors would tell me to cut out acidic and spicy foods and take probiotics and other medications to get rid of the excess stomach acid. I did this until I felt better and then started binge eating again. I had a terrible food addiction, my parents were so worried they paid for personal trainers and nutritionists, they even sent me to a hypnotherapist, but nothing worked because I wasn’t ready to change.
At 23, I was rushed to the hospital with crippling stomach pains and diagnosed with gastroenteritis. I needed surgery to repair my stomach lining and esophagus because they had been so badly damaged by the acid. This was the catalyst I needed to transform my lifestyle for good, and that’s exactly what I did. I started with a therapist to deal with my food addiction. At the same time, I was working with a nutritionist who taught me how to manage my weight through diet. Three months later, after my health had improved, I started exercising.
I would go for short walks around my area, and then I hired a personal trainer and started going to the gym. It was very difficult at the start, but I pushed through and felt good after every session. I would do 45-minute HIIT sessions four times a week and walk 10,000 steps a day. Within six months, I had lost 70 pounds, and within three years, I lost half my body weight!
Exercise and a balanced diet not only helped me lose weight but my stomach issues are gone. I don’t get any pain, and I don’t take any medication. When the gym closed during the pandemic, I signed up for live online HIIT strength classes, and I still do them now.
Today, I value my body in a way I never have before. My eating habits almost killed me, and I never want to return to that place of powerlessness again. It has been a long and tedious journey, but I’ve never been happier. I am no longer ashamed of my body, and I gladly wear a bikini when I go to the beach!
