Weight loss journey

 Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullah dears :) how are u doing?

I had work today, and then I needed to go grocery shopping after that. Pray my prayers and cook. Mission accomplished! Alhamdulillah. Now it's time to take my own time and hang out with you guys. :)

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I kinda put the trigger warning in the title of this post. I don't want to make anyone feel bad about themselves and I know weight can be very sensitive topic. But I also want to share my weight loss journey with you, the reasons behind it and how it has been going, in a positive way. But if you think this is not your topic, skip this post ♡ no judgement here.

So. Last 5-10 years I have gained a lot of weight, I'm talking about maybe 20-25 kg of extra weight. At first, it seemed more healthy, because I was before rather anorectic even. But slowly through time I changed, and my body changed, and from S-M size I found myself in L, XL and XXL size. The main reason for this has been my medication, olanzapine, which basically makes anyone gain a lot of weight as a side effect (and also very tired). Second reason is my age, I'm +35 now and already after turning thirty I noticed that everything I eat starts to really show. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, a woman is not supposed to look like a little girl. But it had it's toll on my confidence, I gotta admit.

Then there's the third, and the most difficult reason. I went to see a gynecologist, and it's very highly likely that I have PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome. As it is a syndrome, it means there's multiple symptoms and every patient has their individual "mix". I consider myself lucky as I don't have many of the symptoms there can be, but still it is a struggle.

So all this and also somewhat unhealthy eating habits lead me to a point where I decided I want to do something about it. It has really been a journey instead of a straight, easy path. First I tried exercise and diet, and didn't get much results. We eat healthy, home cooked food, but my main enemy is sugar! So it's very difficult to lose weight when eating sweets every day. Sugar is bad also because it flames inflammation in the body and by doing that, it raises also cortisol levels which is connected to stubborn belly fat. The sugar is still something I struggle with (ate today some sugar too), I don't want to be too strict and stress myself with it, but I am teaching myself better ways. At least have more days in between the sugar rushes.

But yeah so anyways, did the diet, no dairy, not even oat milk, no bread, and then the exercise, and it just didn't work.

But the gynecologists I met, had a solution. She put me on metformin, which can also be used as a diabetes medicine. It balances hormones (good for the PCOS) and also balances insulin levels (good for insulin resistance and weight loss). And I have lost weight! So far in six months I have lost about six kilos, and I'm happy about that, it's progress. Probably if I had cut the sugar off, I would've lost even more. But this is a journey, and I try. The sugar craving is also one of the PCOS symptoms, and oh my days if I could live even a week without any sugar. Or have something small and leave it to that. The metformin helped with the cravings at first, but then it kinda settled down. Now after Ramadan I know that only bullet proof way is fasting, which I will try more this year in sha Allah. I also want to get back to the diet now after Eid and everything, so no dairy (maybe sour milk products which are good for the gut), less less less sugar, no bread, more fresh fruits and vegetables, and instead of black tea with oat milk, strictly green tea for the health benefits. I want to work out too, and will look for fun ways to raise heartbeat.

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Ate the sugar, having some healthier snack now. This is known from the 80's: veggies and dip.. may be bit boring but it works. I had two bell peppers and sour cream and the dip powder. Can't get much easier than this, and you get flavor but also fibre, antioxidants, vitamins etc. And the green tea tastes like a remedy ♡ in sha Allah I can do this. 

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More dancing. More fun. I need that! In the past, and not so long ago, I have been able to quit bad habits, and now it's definitely time to start again more good habits. In the end it comes to that what I've been writing before: making better choices.

So back on the straight path again.

Thank you for reading, later then,

Aisha