YES, I’M 34 NOW, LOOK OUT WORLD!

 “Lighting candles on a birthday cake originated from the pagan belief in gods. People believed that their gods lived in the sky among the stars. Lighting candles or torches during ceremonies was a way for people sending messages and prayers to the gods. Making a wish and blowing out the candles on the cake signified the idea of sending prayers up to the gods. The Germans were recorded putting candles on birthday cakes over 100 years ago. The number of candles on the cake represented the age of the birthday honouree. Blowing out all the candles in one breath would give your wish a better chance at coming true.”

How is the new year treating you? Did you have a good holiday break? Anyone else celebrating birthday this month? Happy birthday to me! They say a girl needs to keep a little mystery by not saying which birthday it is.  Well, I already did! Today opens a new chapter in my life; every January 6, I get stronger and a year older and wiser. The best thing I ever did was change my life to be more positive, more active and more healthier. I never want to lose this feeling! We have the opportunity to change the direction of our lives. My wish is to become a better person who can influence people around, be good to people and be the person as I see in my dreams. As one keeps growing, one begins to realize that he/she has to get more serious with decisions such as setting new goals.

Many times, we hear the word “Decisions” and we begin to think of really big things. Most of the times, these decisions could mainly be the little things that we ignore, e.g  taking care of our health, reading a book (s) at least monthly, reading the bible everyday, giving back to the community, participating in charity events etc

This is a good reminder that both You and I should learn to make good decisions ALWAYS, no matter how little they may seem.

What did I do today?

I chose to have a low key day, just bonding with my book, some good music and best friend wine. Am not the kind of a person waking up the day after my birthday wondering “How did I get to my bed? Or why does my throat hurt?” hahaha! The mega positive messages received made my day and couldn’t be more grateful. There is so much love and promising future if you say yes! This was my birthday affirmation I wrote to myself and I must say I had a good day!

So today, my aim is to remind all of us that we can’t reach where we want to reach, or where God wants us to reach if we do not make certain decisions and endeavour to keep to them.

Let us make the world a beautiful place with connected wisdom, love and care.

Thank you all for the abundance of love on this special day

#HappyBirthdayToMe

 

THE FREE AND HEALTHIER ME.

So you may remember from my previous posts about my journey and progress? A quick recap and testimony of how it all started.. We all have something in our lives that pushes us to better ourselves and motivate us to work hard towards reaching our goals. My goal when I started this journey was to improve my wellness, feel good about myself in and out, have that confidence and inspire people. How do I feel now? I get compliments all the time, and am so grateful and gush about how I have lost the weight as I want other people to feel the same way.

Growing up as a child I hated food. I was a tiny baby, all the way till high school years. You know that period after finishing high school when you have all the time to sleep, eat and watch telly? Yeah, that was me. I used to eat 3 boiled eggs daily, not realizing what I was doing to my body. My food consumption was too much and I remember my mum telling me and I quote in Swahili. “Mtoto Wangu, cholesterol ni mbaya! (My Daughter, cholesterol is bad)

My mum has been hypertensive for 25 years now and she knew exactly what I was putting myself into.

I didn’t understand what she was talking about, let alone medical term cholesterol. So I kept eating eggs daily, too much unhealthy food, and that was my comfort and best friend. At only 19, I weighed 80kgs. Amazing how I maintained it at 80 all the way to 26 years. The scale would go up maybe by 1 or 2 kgs and that’s it.

Fast forward...

By 31, the scale hit to 108kgs! My self-image was very poor! My belief was that by having many friends on social media was good enough. I depended entirely on that to be happy. I never went out, just sat doing nothing, eating and sleeping. I was unhappy! People admired how outspoken I was on social media and the many likes and coomments I received but little did they know that the real me was unhappy and hiding from issues I was going through at that time.

So one day on my way to the grocery I collapsed and found myself at the hospital. That was my wake-up call, when the Doctor finally told me I was hypertensive and risk getting Diabetes, stroke and heart attack if I did nothing about my weight. It was not worth it being put on High blood pressure medications for the rest of my life at only 31 and I so badly wanted to get off them completely. I was on medication for 3 months with daily visitations at the hospital to have my Blood pressure readings recorded. I kicked off my work out while at the same time, taking my medications. With time, my readings started getting back to normal, and was given a drug holiday for a month. I kept working hard, and the Doctor finally confirmed I was fit to stop medications completely.

Another ailment crept in! Chronic GERD (Gastro esophageal reflux disease), just when I thought I was over with medication. It reached a point where I hated the sight of hospitals. I have battled GERD for a year and a half now with non-stop medications. And one of the things the Doctor advised me to do was change my diet completely and keep on with the exercises. Obesity and Pregnancy contributes to this condition. There was no short cut! I had to keep fighting. During one of my many appointments with the consultant while going through my file, I broke down and the Doctor was so much concerned and motherly. I couldn’t believe how huge my medical file was! It looks like a 200 page novel, and no am not exaggerating!

I was so desperate, tired of the many expensive medications prescribed, tired of many appointments, tired of the pain and discomfort, especially at night, tired of numerous lab tests and procedures I did to rule out why acid reflux kept recurring every now and then, tired of asthma attack at night! The one thing the Doctor told me was

“Take everything you’ve learned and been advised, finish your medications to the latter, and keep pushing.

I did exactly as advised and am proud to report I haven’t been to hospital for months, no medications, no complications, NOTHING!!!!

I get to see the end results of what our lives look like when we don’t honour God by taking care of the temple in which he dwells. If we don’t take care of our health, we live a tortured life full of regrets till the day we take our last breath. I always say, “It’s insane to expect the Reign when we do nothing to change.”

My hope is that my story will serve as a testimony and a warning. Am proud and healthy J I turn 34 this month, I feel as though am in my 20s! Younger, happier, beautiful in and out! This truly is a journey, not something that happened overnight. Weight loss journey is about quality life, vitality, longevity and health!

Wishing you all the very best of luck on this journey. Fit at 50 was my mantra, but now, fit at 70 it is J

#Inspired #Happy #Purpose #Transformation #BeforeAndAfter