Its a new day and time to set new goals and achieve them. One lady who knows a bit about acheiving set goals is Bukky Lawal. She started out at 104 kg and today she is 58kg! Read on as she shares her story:
I grew up being the chubbiest of four children and I was the one who loved food the most ( still do). Growing up, ours was the “average family” of Nigeria of those days, we were comfortable and so food was not a problem. Life was good at least as far as food was concerned and food seemed to be a guage for “good life” back then so we lived well. Outside our three square meals , snacks and special delicacies were the norm. My parents especially my dad, ‘taught’ me how to eat ‘ijekuje’* and “mindinmidin”** and we would take trips to Ibadan from Ile-Ife to the big departmental shops such as UTC and Leventis for treat, It was a way of showing love and I enjoyed it.
I therefore grew up loving and appreciating good food. To be honest I still do and the only difference is that now I choose my food and I eat with ‘sense’ now. I scrutinize my food properly now and want to know the ingredients and the quantity. To be honest inspite of being the one who ‘helped’ to finish the left overs so that food will not waste (lol) I was not an emotional eater and being overweight did not hamper me in anyway. I loved my size 22 body so much (I miss it sometimes) and I carried myself with confidence. I dressed well to suit my body size and I was indifferent to all suggestions even from my parents to loose weight. My father was particularly worried and would cut out articles on obesity and its consequences from newspaper and give me to read. However his efforts had no impact on me.
The turning point and start of my weight journey was when I lost my favourite cousin in August 2014 he suffered a stroke suddenly and died in less than 12 hours. It was less than a week to his 50th birthday and we were all devastated. I was badly shaken and felt so bad for his wife and children. The whole family was in mourning and it was during this mourning process that I started to reflect on my obesity. After deep reflection on September 1 2014, I took a picture of my self, took a tape rule, measured my waist circumference and also got on the scale to measure my weight and just decided there and then to lose 20kg. I did my research and found out that to burn fat fast, I had to love cardio; i.e. walking, jogging running etc. That was how I started walking for 30 minutes five days a week. I also realised I had to cut down on my king size food portions and stop eating carbohydrates like ‘eba‘, rice, pastas and taking refined sugars, fizzy drinks and so on. With time I found that my love for them dwindled till I could do without them or eat them with ‘sense’. (In small controlled portions).
I went from walking to jogging and eventually became a runner when in early Dec. 2014 at that point I found I had lost 8kg! I was happy and this encouraged me to start jogging and running. Six months later in June 2015 I had lost the 20kg I initially set out to lose. I thought it would be a good idea to loose 10kg more and by September 2015 , exactly one year after I started my journey I was 30kg lighter and weighing 74kg! I had become so dedicated to my weightloss that I even ran a solo marathan that same month. At the end of the year I decided to calculate my BMI and the ideal weight of 59kg it gave me became my new goal. The fact that I was seeing results was a big motivation and and even though at a point people felt I was getting too small I was happy with the new me.
I lost 46kg in 20 months and I am now in the maintenance mode. I still exercise regularly and eat healthy to avoid gaining weight. There are bad days when I just eat and eat but I learnt not to stay down and pick myself up the next day and keep moving. If I was to summarise how I lost weight I would say firstly I took total control of what goes into my mouth and what quantity, secondly cardio; walking, jogging, running, thirdly strength training, lastly consistency and dedication. I set targets for myself and met up with them.
My journey has taught me self discipline not only in food but in all aspects of my life. A judge who I appeared before after my weight loss said I was to be feared as loosing such weight means I am capable of doing whatever and I believe him! I love my size 22 body but I love my size 8 body as it is now easier to get beautiful clothes in my new size (as I love beautiful clothes) and I am healthier. I am at my best me physically, emotionally and in every way and love the new me especially the fact that I also inspire people to achieve all sorts of goals.
Well done Bukky!
This is so inspiring! I really love that she was bold and confident even at Size 22, and that she set out to lose weight for health reasons after reflecting on the negative health implications of her obesity. Sometimes people lose weight because of what people say about them or because they feel bad about the way they look, and sadly they either end up still unhappy after losing the weight, or even gaining the weight back later, because the truth is that people will *always* have something to say, and true contentment and confidence does not come from how you look but rather from how you feel and carry yourself. The best thing we can do for ourselves is to be fit and healthy in body, mind and spirit. Thanks for sharing this, Bukky – I am inspired!!
Thanks!
Fantastic! This is so fascinating because i know her, the idea of the story being a ‘fiction’ couldn’t hinder me from appreciating it because it is REAL. No dream is too big to achieve. Welldone Bukky. Thank you Chioma for sharing.
Awww… Thanks! Ofcourse , as you said, it is so real and we can achieve anything our minds can conceive by God’s grace.
I admire Bukky’s strength and ability to see her weight loss challenge through. I remember her as chubby so it’s mind blowing for me to see her amazing new size 8 body!! Ride on babes, you are the real MVP??. Thanks for sharing her journey chioma??
Same here! It waswas mind blowing for me too! It took me making effort to get used to the new person I was seeing in the mirror! Some one said loosing 46kg means I lost a whole human being! Lol.
Thanks sis.
This is fantastic! Bukky did an amazing job. When you set your mind to something you can achieve it and be a source of motivation and inspiration to so many others. I will be sharing this post as it can be so helpful and encouraging to so many women.
Sheri – http://www.abusybeeslife.com/
Thanks Sheri! Her story truly shows the strength of resolve.
This is amazing. After I had my son in 2014, I was weighing 90kg. I couldn’t get rid of it easily and I didn’t want to commence any form of dieting until I had weaned him. Some days after weaning him, I commenced ad intense dieting and running on the mill. Eventually I started losing in inches but the scale was still discouraging. The bulk of my weight is actually on my butts. My target was 60kg but by the time I lost so much in inches about 2 months into the program, and the scale was still reading 82kg, the consultant advised I pay less attention to the scale since I was losing rapidly in inches. I ditched the program cos it was becoming expensive and concentrated on healthy eating. I now weigh 74kg. I keep adding and losing depending on events in my life but I am in no rush. I am not in a sprint to achieve the 60kg. I just decided to make it a life style.
I think you have done wonderful with your weight! Its not easy being disciplined
I look at your picture everyday & I wonder if any magic was done to your body. Well done isn’t enough for what you have achieved cos for some of us, it seems like an uphill task. Bukky, you rock biggest time. I know I have engaged you personally, even though I know that it all begins with “me” finally… You are an inspiration our own lawyer/runs girl.
Well done, Bukky. The greatest challenge in winning is remaining at the top. You are a two-time winner, a superhero…ride on babes!
Just one question: How did you fit this cardio lifestyle into your work life???
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