My Fabulous Fat Loss Journey 1: One week in heaven or hell? You choose…

Your mind is a powerful thing

Written by Anri van Rooyen

I am the Health & Fitness Scientist and co-owner of The Weight Control Clinic. I am also a qualified Holistic Counsellor. Read more here I have decided to share my fat loss journey to help our current and prospective patients on a more personal level. I will be completely honest, as I also advise my patients to be. Honesty is the best policy. I cannot help you, or myself in this case, if I am lying.

Our Weight Control Clinic program encourages healthy natural fat loss. Healthy eating and incorporating easy, effective, fun 15 minute exercises into your life. We encourage a lifestyle change. This is what our program is all about, helping you change your lifestyle. There is no quick fix, and if someone says otherwise, they are lying to you! With our ongoing support & motivation and many ideas, you cannot go wrong. I share some below.

The Reason

The last time I was on our program was in July 2012. I maintained my fat loss for many years. After my wedding in December 2016 and lack of motivation, high stress levels and lacking a goal, it is time for me to embark on this journey again. I started again with our effective Weight Control Clinic Program on 21 May 2018. My main reason for starting again: after getting married in December 2016, I have gained 5kg of fat weight. Please note: I am talking about fat weight for a reason. I don’t care and never will about your total weight! Total weight does not mean anything, it is crucial to determine body composition (fat, muscle, water, protein and mineral content). Our goal at The Weight Control Clinic is to focus on fat loss and muscle gain as a tool to measure progress and more importantly to manage your health risks. We do this by using an extremely accurate device (known as the InBody).

Sharing my journey

I added an extra motivator for myself, this helps a lot, you need to know why you started and keep that in mind every time you feel like giving up. Yes, it is hard! I have already faced some challenges and this is week one (I will share them below). My extra motivator: sharing my fat loss journey with the world and supporting our patients through this challenge. This has helped me stay on track most of the time.

It is difficult, but in the end it will be worth it. Take a look at our Wall of Fame. If they and I can do it, so can you and I. 😛 

With no further ado, let’s start at the beginning:

Intermittent Fasting 101

Week 1 of my fat loss journey was more challenging than I thought. I did intermittent fasting (IF) as it has been proven to increase fat loss and I find it very easy as I have never been hungry early in the morning. Yes, I know what you are thinking: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Correct! I am just choosing to have breakfast at 10h00. So IF, is not about skipping meals, it is about eating for a specific period of time. I choose 8 hours of eating and 16 hours of fasting most days of the week. Our EatSMART Guide includes our healthy eating plan, practical tips and tricks to assist you.

The Food and The FunFitness

In short: I am following our EatSMART Guide with our highly effective nutraceuticals to increase fat burning. I am also following my FitSMART Guide (I developed it with our EatSMART Guide for optimal results). Start slowly by at least doing 3x exercise sessions for Week 1 and working your way up gradually to 5 or 6 days a week. Click here for My Fabulous Food and here for My Fabulous FunFitness to see what I ate and what exercise I did in detail.

The Body Composition Changes

Generally on our program, we do the body composition changes once a month, for my fat loss journey, I decided to do it once a week. My first InBody was on Friday, 18 May. That weekend I drank a lot because I knew I wouldn’t for a while (I’m just being honest :P). My second InBody was a week later. Therefore, 5 days on the program. My fat decreased by 400g, even after only 5 days on the program. my fat decreased by another 400g after week 2, have a look to see what is happening with my InBody findings.

My Fat Loss Struggles & Solutions

I think I experienced all the challenges in week one. ? I think the reason is, so that I can help all of you find solutions with your specific struggles. In week 1, I struggled to drink enough water, I ended up being so busy that I skipped meals and with all the stress I struggled to sleep. I don’t know if it is due to Winter, but my cravings were also really bad. I am a social butterfly and I love socializing with friends. Alcohol is generally a big issue for me, my weakness if I can call it that. Click here to see my solutions to all my challenges I am facing on our program. As you can see there are always solutions, you just need to find them. You can also visit us for support and motivation, we love finding solutions!

Some Helpful Notes

• Don’t think you’re on a diet. If I do this, I want to eat all the wrong things. You are on a healthy lifestyle plan! Therefore, consistency is crucial.
• Choose healthy, raw ingredients. Stay away from tins and processed foods
• Try to do what you can, stay consistent. Just keep going and make the right choices.
• Preparation is key! I ran out of eggs… Make sure you don’t run out by buying enough food for the week. This will help you stay on track.
• Don’t forget that everybody struggles. It is an adaptation. It is difficult, I know you will be struggling with similar things, we are all human. I want to help you find solutions, to make it easier for you. As soon as it becomes a habit, it will be so much easier! You can do this!!!
• It is challenging to get your mind wrapped around it. Your mind is a powerful thing. Now make it work for you, not against you.

I hope this helps you with your fat loss journey as well. Please comment below if you have any thoughts or inquiries. 

Yours in health & wellbeing,

Anri xxx