By Sebastian Gonzalez – Drupal Developer at Santex
My journey begins in early 2014, at the time I went to see a dermatologist for a few spots that I found on my legs. The dermatologist told me that it was acanthosis pigmentaria, and that they were due to my being overweight. At that time, my weight was about 110 kilos (242 lbs.) or a little more, had a very poor diet – lots of take out, lots of soda, many processed meals (bread, pastries), only a few vegetables and no fruit.
I signed up for a gym without a clear idea of what to do: that I should lose weight. At first, they recommended that I start on the stationary bike in addition to an exercise routine that was, at the very least, boring. Those were the first few weeks, and then little by little I began to like the routines that the coach was giving me and I started to enjoy training at the gym. In the meantime, the coach started demanding more and more of me.
When it came to my diet, I knew that it was the key to losing weight. Little by little I started changing certain eating habits. I started to plan my meals and set a day when I could eat more fattening foods (I still eat sandwiches and pizzas on my “cheat” days). I had to change my breakfast habits too – I used to not eat breakfast at all or just grab something quick on the way to work. I stopped drinking soda and eating certain foods at night.
Within the first 14 months, I lost almost 30 kilos (66 lbs). At a first glance, this seems like a large number, but I did some calculations and it evens out to about 500 grams (about 1 lb) per week. The truth is that weight loss is not a consistent progression. Sometimes I lost 500g per week, and afterwards weeks would go by where I would plateau and not lose even 1 gram. It’s times like that when you need to learn to be persistent and not give up, and just continue trying day after day. It’s not an easy journey that one sets out on to try to change or improve one’s life, but the people by my side supported me and encouraged along the way, and they didn’t let me fall. It’s also nice to hear when friends or coworkers comment on the weight you’ve lost and how they notice your body changing. That’s encouraging.
Today, my food plan is quite varied. My breakfasts usually include yogurt, fruit, granola, and peanut butter. My lunches focus on protein like beef, chicken, pork, and eggs, in addition to a healthy source of carbohydrates like broccoli, spinach, sweet potatoes, and brown rice. Dinners also revolve around a protein and lots of veggies like lettuce, tomato, carrots, arugula, cabbage, etc.
When people ask me how I lost so much weight and totally changed my body, the first thing I say is that you have to have persistence and the drive to keep going. There are going to be difficult moments in which you feel anxious and want to buy everything at the grocery store! But you’ll see how your body changes bit by bit and you’ll feel stronger and have more energy. You won’t get as tired at work – you’ll sleep better at night and feel more awake during the day. You can’t put a price on those feelings. I always recommend doing a physical activity, whatever it may be. If you like soccer, play it. If you like to run, go do it. If you’re a gym person like myself, be methodical with your training plan. Whatever the activity you prefer, the important thing is to stick to it.
My journey continues, and each day I strive to improve my diet and improve my training. I try to communicate my life experiences with others so that they feel motivated to become more physically active. With a little bit of perseverance you can achieve big things.
