The best way to lose weight is to forget about trying to

I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have attempted to lose weight.

Looking back, I think I lost about 5 kg in about 5 months during the middle of 2016. But then I broke my knee and I was bedridden for a while. After nursing my injury, I realized I had gained all the 5 kg back. So, as usual, I gave up.

I want to let you in on a few of the things I did just to try and lose weight.

BTW this is me, putting myself out there because that is the stage I am in my life now. If this will help me and someone else I am game.

Attempts

Once, I paid 1000 cedis to a fitness trainer. But not for what you think, he had told me a certain magical drug did wonders for one of his clients. I should have questioned why a fitness trainer will recommend a drug to me when he claimed at that time he was good at helping people lose weight through exercise. But I guess I was desperate.

He gave me some powdered substance and told me to take it with water first thing in the morning. If I did number 1 more than my usual frequency it meant the drug was working. In retrospect, I am glad I did not die because till date I don’t know what I took into my system.

I have tried Herbalife, Calorad, Ez Slim and a host of others. They all didn’t work for me. At most, I just reacted in a funny way to all these products. (This is not to discredit these products-because they have worked for others. They were just not for me)

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Another time I tried a carbohydrate free diet and I gave up after a week. I am a rice addict. I don’t eat Banku or Fufu; yam is also not my thing but rice is everything food can be to me so I could not give it up for a week.

I have even applied products promising to burn fat just by applying it to my fat area.

The above are just a few of my many attempts I have made.

On reflection, I have realised that my desperation to lose weight was really born out of a need to feel good in my body and be healthy. It has never been about what I would wear and just how attractive I will become, because I feel attractive even at my current weight.

People look at me and say why do you want to lose weight you look good the way you are until I tell them what I have to deal with as a result of the weight.

Just what is my weight doing to me?

I have constant back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain. If I had to rate the pain, I’d put it at an 8 on a scale of 10.

Yes, that is how bad it is.

Also, my father had a heart attack once in his life before he passed and my mom until few years ago was battling with high blood pressure.

So yes, I have quite the family history, if you know what I mean. That is why I have been desperate to shed the calories.

Brand new conviction

I know exactly how to lose weight the healthy way, but I have always lacked the mental fortitude to be consistent in my healthy attempts.

But this week started with a new principle after I suffered severe neck and back pain Monday night.

As I fought a war of pain, what to do and confusion in my heard, the urge to lose weight was strong.

And I had an Aha! moment.

I felt something in my spirit tell me “Just Take Care of Yourself Betty”

I immediately realized my mental approach had always been flawed and that was why I kept failing.

So now instead of my focus on losing weight, I am going to start taking care of myself. Start making the right choices everyday. Let my back, neck, shoulder and other related health issues remind me of why I need to take care of myself and i trust the other lines will fall into their right places. In the end, I am all I have.

I am going to try to share with you my difficulties, failings and successes on week on week basis. We’ll see what happens.

Betty Kankam-Boadu is multimedia journalist with over seven years of experience covering politics, lifestyle and developmental stories for both online and radio outlets. She is currently the editor of Pulse Ghana.