Weight Loss - Slow and Steady Win the Race Part One - Forever Nij

Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. You have gained weight after the pandemic? You are not alone. According to the Harvard Health website, an examination of patient data from electronic health records showed that “39% of patients gained weight during the pandemic, with weight gain defined as above the normal fluctuation of 2.5 pounds. Approximately 27% gained less than 12.5 pounds and about 10% gained more than 12.5 pounds, with 2% gaining over 27.5 pounds”. Today, I will share with you part one of my weight loss journey.

I was fortunate enough not to experience freshman 15, mostly because I was severely underweight. However, I wasn’t so lucky this time around. This may be because I am much older now with a much slower metabolism rate. On top of that, I am dealing with chronic health conditions which put on steroid treatment several times. The weight gain was not pretty on my clothing and my mind. For some reason, even with my love of mindful meditation, I just couldn’t deal with the 26 pounds weight gain. If the stress of the pandemic and loss of loved ones weren’t enough, I started dealing with added weight that I was feeling day-to-day.

The Weight Loss Journey

Photo by Breakingpic on Pexels.com

My friends, I have to say that the journey was not easy. At first, I was checking my weight every day, only to make me stress out even more. I started out with light exercise. That would have been easy if I didn’t have exercise intolerance. Hence, I started counting calories and cutting carbs. That did not last long. If I lost 3 pounds, the next week I gained 2 back. As a science person I know that when it comes to weight loss, one shoe does not fit all. I tried the Weight Watcher point system, it does not work. Finally, I decided to do some research for other effective options.

High Protein Breakfast for Weight Loss

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

One thing that I came across that caught my attention is the use of a high-protein breakfast for weight loss. Weight what? Yes, high-protein breakfast. I started doing some research. A high-protein diet may decrease food intake through regulating satiety and appetite hormones and can be an effective strategy for weight loss. A study looking at Chinese adolescents found that a high-protein breakfast promotes weight loss in obese Chinese adolescents, possibly through its regulation of satiety, subsequent food intake, and appetite hormones. Similarly, acute studies show that the addition of whey protein at breakfast has a glucose-lowering effect through increased incretin and insulin secretion. Whey protein-based breakfast is an important adjuvant in the management of Type 2 diabetes. However, keeping in mind that there is no single best strategy for weight management, I tried this out. I took a protein drink every day followed by frequent small meals. I started to lose weight but very slowly. A month ago I decided to add a weight watcher protein bar on top of my protein drink as my breakfast.

Photo by Total Shape on Pexels.com

My friends, do keep in mind that months of just protein drink helped me shed 6 pounds. However, it was not steady. Hence, after adding the protein bar with the protein drink I was able to shed another 6 pounds in the past month, with no exercise on top of being on steroid treatment. I don’t give the entire credit to a high protein diet, but it helped a lot. I still follow the motto, everything in moderation. Weight watchers point system may not have helped me this time, however, the moto behind them, “Calories give it the baseline; saturated fat and sugar drive the SmartPoints value up, while protein drives it down. The reason for this is that numerous studies have confirmed the benefits of eating less sugar and saturated fat, and more protein—not just for weight loss, but all sorts of other health reasons”.

My dear lovelies! Please come back tomorrow on the 2nd part of my weight loss journey. If you are going through a weight loss journey, I would love to hear your stories. What worked for you and what didn’t.

Please subscribe to this blog or follow me if you have a WordPress account. Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernij. Are you on Bloglovin? Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

——————————– Happy Reading ———————————-

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is thank-you.png

Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channels (two)

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

Buy From My Closet

Shop from my closet at Poshmark

Shop from my closet at Ebay

CAUSES CLOSE TO MY HEART

PLEASE DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH MY FUNDRAISING LINKS:

I consider myself fortunate to have good health, a full-time job, and a roof over my head. However, there are still so many people who are struggling to put food on their tables. Please join me to help those who are struggling. If you have good health, full-time jobs, and a roof over your head, please join me to help those who are struggling. Whether you donate $5 or $500, you will make a huge difference in someone’s life.

No Kid Hungry:

America’s kids need us. The coronavirus is closing schools nationwide, and millions of vulnerable children are losing the school meals they depend on. For some, it’s the only food they’ll receive on a given day. We have a plan to feed kids, but we need your help today to continue our work to ensure every kid gets three meals a day. You can click above to donate to my gofundme page donation going directly to the organization, or you can click on the direct link to the site.

Food Bank of Maryland:

PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN AND SHARE THE POST WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Manna Food Center, a nonprofit organization, strives to eliminate hunger in Montgomery County through food distribution, education, and advocacy. Millions of children go to bed hungry in America every year, sadly it’s worse now! Today, 14 million children regularly miss meals — three times more than during the Great Recession and five times more than before the pandemic.

Many parents have lost their job during the pandemic. Sadly, that shows no sign of stopping. Your donation can bring relief to the millions worried about where their next meal will come from. It’s even worse for Latino and Black families, whose rates of nutrition insecurity have spiked to 25% and 30%. In the world’s wealthiest country, this is unconscionable.

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 37 million people in America struggled with hunger and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control reports 76% of people killed by COVID-19 had at least one underlying condition, most of which were diet-related. Diet-related diseases also fuel skyrocketing health care costs, which rose from 5% to 28% of the federal budget in the past 50 years.

Let’s make the world better, kinder, brighter. Every dollar you give will create real change. $1 will feed 5 hungry children here in the US, but $1,000 will feed 50,000 starving children overseas. Be the good in the lives of many by giving right now.

SUPPORT ME

Your generous support will help me continue to bring content to you.