9ja Shop

Only for those in Nigeria, to place your order email me on natachyp@gmail.com

• Pedometer: a portable electronic device that counts each step you take by detecting your motion from the hips. looking to lose weight but no time to exercise? you can lose weight but tracking your walks (e.g. a 70kg person can burn 440 calories by walking 10,000 steps briskly) imagine what eating healthy and walking daily can do for your weight loss.
• Measuring cup and spoon: you might not have time to always check calories in food but having measuring cup and spoon is very handy when it comes to knowing the amount of food you consume. These saves more than eye balling your food. Most weight loss experts encourage using these because sometimes you are over eating.
• Food Scale: this comes handy in measuring meat, fish etc. I have one that is very handy, sites like popsugar encourages it. you might not always weigh your meats or fish but at some point in your weight loss journey, it is important.
• Whey protein: this doesn't directly burn fat but it helps you lose weight. its advised to take 5 to 6 healthy meals a day to lose weight and increase your metabolism. Most times its difficult to get 6 meals so for me I supplement it with protein powders, it is a source of lean protein. some meats contains fat in them but protein powder has less fat and carb. So I take 3 whole meals and 2 shakes to speed up my metabolism. various ways to make shakes with fruits, bake with them or put in your oat meals/yogurt. 
• Noodles (Medium/full egg noodles):  This noodle is exceptional with only 80 calories compared to 315 calories (small pack) Nigerian noodle.
• Heart rate monitor: accurately monitor your heart rate during workout to keep you in the zone you to be because most gym equipments are unreliable at monitoring heart rate. shows you calories and fat burnt at the end of each session.
• Workout dvds 
• Calorie counter skipping rope
• Digital bathroom scale
• Shake-Up bottle
• Sport bra
• Nuts and Seeds

Accountability Check: Day 5 to 8/ Weigh In

Sometimes I get very tired of posting anything on my blog but for accountability sake, I just have to. I have kept to my words by working out well and eating healthy, well apart from Saturday that i had only 900 calories (why? busy day).
I weighed myself this morning and am still 67 kg but I have loss some inches (like 3) which is great for April. May is just tomorrow, for those of us that always want to start their weight loss journey on fresh month but never did. I suggest you start gradually, hold yourself accountable for your body. The truth is that you can do this, don't listen to what anyone is saying or what your brain tells you. There is always room for improvement.
There are some people with negative energy looking for who to transfer it to, those that keep telling
you that you can't or that you will not look good if you slim down (how on earth will they know how you will look like if you are slim). Tell them okay and do what you want. After-all its your life and what you do with it is entirely up to you. And for those that go on water diet just to lose weight, no need preaching about it because its your choice as well. I love food and eat to lose weight not starve to lose weight.
You might be losing weight and not getting the compliments from your friends, don't worry yourself because some of them are just angry that you are doing it. They are so mad that you are taking control of your body, you are moving away from being the fat friend to being who you want to be.
I don't have a problem with fat but i think my body doesn't want to carry that amount of fat anymore. Curvy is good which is what I want but fat is just way too much for me.
The painful or disappointing truth is that there is no short cut to it. To get real and true result, you have to work for it. Find an accountability partner, someone you report back to regularly about your weight loss. Someone serious that will make you sit up and work hard.

Tomorrow is May.......Start now

Accountability Check: Day 3 & 4

I have been very busy and tried, really tired but I have managed to keep to my words by staying accountable for all I do. Workout has been great, its kind of natural. Am not stressing too much about it. Am learning new things daily, discovered very healthy noodles, not the zero calories one. its low in calories but very filling. I ate well though I can't remember all I had yesterday but it wasn't above 1300 calories.
Today:
Breakfast: oatmeal + soy milk+whey protein
Snack: 14 almond nuts+ 1/2 apple

Lunch: wheat pasta+chicken+veg
Snack: chicken pie of 70 calories
Dinner: 200 g yogurt+granola+honey
Tomorrow is Saturday and I pray to eat up to 1300 calories. Saturdays are normally lazy day, I start by waking up late, drinking lots of water, cleaning and shopping, by the time i realize what's happening the day is gone. Sometimes I end up eating 800 calories which is very poor and low. I will try my best to eat well...fingers crossed

TIP: Spray Oil

Some people can not control the oil they use when cooking. Either when frying egg or oiling baking pan. These spray oil can be expensive considering that you keep buying them without thinking of improvising.
If you normally buy spray oil and its finishing, you can refill the bottle with any oil you use in
cooking and start spraying. Well if you don't have spray oil, buy spray bottle, fill it with oil and start cooking.
Lets get creative and stop buying everything .....................*hugs*

The Fat Mentality

According to urban dictionary fat mentality is when a person who used to be a fat kid (a former fat kid) and is now skinny and fit and even good looking, but they still feel like a fat kid inside and will always think like a fat kid.

So let me ask, do you feel this way? well ................

After losing 73 kg in total, its funny how my brain behaves sometimes like when i go shopping sometimes I struggle with buying clothes my size, My brain always feel its safe to buy bigger sizes,
thinking am still very fat.....damn you fat mentality.
I don't know what to call this, I have maintained my weight loss and am sure not going back to 140 kg so what is going on in my head. I have always said to my friends that I have fat mentality, they will tell me to shut up and laugh, not until I google "fat mentality" and there it was staring in my face.
I know I have lost weight, its very obvious, I feel happier and feel good but my mind won't let me go pass this mentality, maybe the mind is telling me just in case i gain the weight back which I won't ....lol. I guess this is normal coming from 140 kg to 67 kg, UK size 10/12 now from size 26. Since I know all these, why is my brain playing up around fat? Why would someone who has succeeded and still succeed fall into this fat mentality trap?

I seriously don't have an answer to this question, I will continue trying to win this race. I still eat healthy and workout the much I can. Am happy where I am but will want to get to 63 kg.

If you struggle with fat mentality, please do share with us and if you have recovered, how did you do it? what advice will you give?

Accountability Check: Day 2

Had a busy day yesterday, went out shopping with a friend and came home tired and hungry. Well after 2 hours of brisk walking all I needed was food and rest.

Breakfast: 200 g plain yogurt+oatmeal+honey+protein powder
Lunch: Barley in mince sauce with 2 chicken thigh and veggies
Snack: 1 apple + 1 orange

Dinner: Same as breakfast
Water: 5ltrs
Workout: level 1 30 days shred + 2 hours brisk walking

Accountability check: Day 1

Today is the day 1 of my 38 days accountability check. Study was more time consuming today but I create time to workout, I did Jillian Micheal's 30 days shred (level 1). As for food, I did pretty good on that.
Breakfast: oatmeal + protein powder + flaxseed + 1/2 banana + soy milk (unsweetened)
Lunch: Noodles + lean mince sauce+ carrot and broccoli
Snack: 5 Multi-grain thin crips + 1 tbsp peanut butter

Dinner: barley porridge + apple sauce
Water: 6 ltrs

38 days Accountability Check

In weight loss, your biggest enemy is yourself. Busy schedules, temptation, loss of motivation and fatigue can easily make you lose track of your goals and you end up slipping up on exercise and diet. self control and other techniques are helpful in remaining accountable and keeping track of your success.
I have posted things like this before but am not entirely free from it. Whenever am very busy or facing pressure from studies, I found out that I slip up from my eating and workout but for the next  38 days which is the remaining of April and the whole of May, I will be holding myself accountable for
what I eat and my workout as well.
Its not going to be easy because am very very busy but I still don't want to fall sooo bad. I wont be weighing in until the 30th of April and 31st of May.

Am gonna be signing a contract with myself, a weight loss contract defining the terms and outlining my weight loss plan. My goal is to eat 1300 calories (no more no less) and workout at least 30 minutes daily. I will keep record of my progress, both food and exercise.

UPDATE: 15 Things You Don't Know About Me

1. I am not a party person, so I get confused when people say they party all night o_O
2. I seriously hate ironing .........ironing clothes, I hate it to the point that I hardly buy clothes that I have to iron. Well I iron my bed sheets.
3. I love my veggies a whole lot.
4. I love fish but wont be caught eating it in public why...............the after smell in my mouth is
awful.
5. I can sit a whole day watching cartoon...........
6. I enjoy cooking a lot, in fact I believe in cook in my head 12 hours a day. I love my Kitchen
7. I won't be caught wearing heels unless am forced to. Well am learning ...............
8. I really don't like weddings and have only attended 2 weddings my entire life
9. Am not a make up person............truth is that I don't know how to, maybe little.
10. My favorite out fit, any day any time is JEANS.
11. Eating banana alone freaks me out, I can only eat it in smoothies, oatmeal and in baking.
12. I seriously hate attention
13. I don't drink, never had
14. I rarely cream my body.......weird yet people kept asking what lotion I use
15.Messy places and dirt drives me crazy

Am now @ 67 kg from my 68 kg .................

You Reap Only When You Sow

You reap what you sow is the law of nature.

A farmer who sows well will definitely reap but if the farmer sows anyhow, he/she will reap anyhow, its just nature.  In other words, if you want to lose weight, you must work for it. I can't
workout and eat healthy while you lose the weight.

You have to workout, eat healthy and to get your desired result. The effort you put in will determine the result you get. I suggest you start sowing into losing weight...

RECIPE: Apple Butter or Apple Jam

Ingredients

• 3 apples ( peeled or unpeeled)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tbsp agave nectar/Marple syrup/1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp apple juice, cider or water

Preparation
1. Place all the ingredients in a pan and cook over low heat.
2. Cook for 15 minutes, covered or until apples are soft and tender.
3. Smash apples with a potato masher or back of a spoon. I like the apple butter to be slightly chunky, if you want it smooth blend it.
4. Cool and serve.

I love this with warm toast or add it in my oatmeal

RECIPE: Barley and Beans

This is a twist of our Nigerian rice and beans.

Ingredients

• Barley (1 cup)
• Beans (1 cup) (brown beans, black eye beans or kidney beans)
• Bell pepper or Tomato (fresh or canned)
• Chicken or Fish
• Pepper and salt 
• Onions 1 medium 
• Seasoning (knorr or Maggi) or stock
• Garlic/ginger
• Curry
• Thyme
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:

• Wash and soak barley over night (easier then just cooking it straight)
• Wash and soak beans for 5 hours.
• In different pots, cooking the barley and beans in water until tender, then pour out the water and run beans and barley under the tap.
• Once they are all cooked and washed, set them aside but in different bowl
• If you are using tomatoes(fresh (chopped) or canned), pour in a pot and cook until all the juice is dried, make it into a paste then blend.
• If you are using bell pepper, blend and cook until all the water/juice is dried leaving only the pepper.
• Cook the chicken or fish with spices like: thyme, stock cube, salt, some pepper and onions. cook until tender. You can also grill your fish or chicken.

Direction:

• In a pot, pour your oil (medium heat), allow to heat a bit then pour in your remaining onions, garlic, ginger allow to simmer for 3 mins then add either your tomatoes or red bell pepper. cook for more 8 mins then add your chicken stock and or cube, curry. Allow to boil for more 8 mins on medium heat (covering the pot).
• Pour in your beans and cook for more 10 mins, checking the water level from time to time. if you need to add water, do so gradually but don't put too much or the beans will go soggy.
• Once the water level in the pot gets very little, add your barley, add pepper and salt. Cover the pot and cook on low heat until the water is dry.
• Serve warm with either chicken or fish

If you are looking for the fish or chicken on my dish..........oh well (It was in the tummy before the pic was taken)

Discover your way to Weight loss

There are various things going on in the weight loss industry and in our heads. Some will say, eat this not that, drink this not that. Well I say eat whatever you want in moderation if you intend to lose the weight and keep it off. Nothing like being real and true to yourself about losing weight.

I have lived life as a fat/obese/overweight person, you name it. Am not telling you what I have read but what i have lived. I started with some ridiculous food timetable, though it worked well I just
couldn't keep up with it and it was far from being real. If my mum wasn't the one cooking for me for the first month I used the timetable, I would have quit doing that.

Well, after a month, I knew something big has to change about the way I was eating. I was restricted to eating what i will call real food, I had to carry out some research, read books, experiments and finally found out what worked for me. It was simple............

Eat what I love in moderation and lose weight, there is no pill to it. If I used any pill, its eat and move.

I only stay away from certain food if i feel very bloated, full and want to detox my body which I only do for 1 week. I always those that ask what I eat, I eat what I want but in moderation. Some people still doesn't believe that's how I loss the weight but really I don't care what they say.

I will encourage anyone trying to lose weight to please try to be real and true to yourself. If being true and real to you means quitting everything you eat and eat only salad then that's fine. Just do what you can live with for as long as you live. You will lose the weight for sure, but what happens when you start eating those food again? Diet works only for some period, after that reality follows. Diet begins and ends but healthy living is for life.

They said drinking water helps in weight loss, water is meant to be taken whether to lose weight or not, so you better start drinking water as part of living not because you want to lose weight. Obesity is an illness with no respect.

The way I thought about food and life when I was obese is very difference from now. Try and find out how to deal with things that are causing you to gain weight, things like emotional eating, eating big portion etc. I learn from my mistakes and am able to be better. Listen to that positive voice in your head telling you how good you are doing, don't live in front of the mirror putting yourself down and all. You have to love yourself in order to effect changes in your life.

Reprogram your brain into the right direction. I did it and still doing it, you too can.

And Its Plateau

Am laying out my frustration and letting you know how I feel. Am asking if my scale really hates me at this point or are my doing something terribly wrong? I really can't figure out what the problem is. Since 3 months I have been moving from 70 kg down 68 kg...like seriously?

Did I just hit another plateau...isn't that too soon?

I know its gonna get harder once i got to 70 kg but for how long? am not ready to stay @68 kg
forever, its a concern now for me. Last 2 weeks I entered 67.7 kg, I was so happy and now back and struggling at 68 kg again.

No freaking way.....

I know am eating right, working out more, switching up my meals so then whats the problem? I appreciate NSV but this scale is beginning to annoy me for real. Am beginning to question myself and my body, are my meant to stop @ 68 kg? Are my doing something wrong?

The thought of stopping now is really not an option for me, I must get to my goal. I cannot afford to stop now, 68 kg is just not me. I have made up my mind to beat this 68 kg and move on to my goal but this scale must surely move. I mean it

Weirdest Thing ever

Pearl Barley

The queen of rice has all of a sudden lost total taste or appetite for rice. I cook rice like 3 times a week for the family but I have not eaten it for God knows when. I bought brown rice thinking I might have the appetite but nope. My brain doesn't remember the food 'rice' or what it tastes like.
I found this weird considering that am the queen of rice (any type of rice). Instead, my love for
pearl barley has been awoken. I eat it as porridge for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Maybe it has replaced rice, there are so many things to cook it with. I eat it with beans, sauce, veggies, salad etc.

Yesterday I has it with beans, it was delish...I intend to post the recipe later this week. As for losing my love for rice, am a bit worried because i still want to be able to eat rice once in a while but i truly have no appetite for it. Hopefully in the future .....  

Weigh In / Come and Gone

Easter has come and gone, the big question is how was it for me...hmmmmm. To be very honest, I know I ate too much of good stuffs. I had no pastry or junk, just the healthy food but too much of it.
So what did the scale reveal after my Easter eating......
Last week: 67.7 kg

Today: 68 kg
Gain: 300 g
I guess this isn't too bad but my tummy feels like i borrowed it from someone else. I feel totally bloated and heavy. So I have decided to go on 1 week detox, no especial diet or food really just eating super clean with lots of water.

I have been MIA for a while now because of school works and coming exams. This means I have less workout time and planning meals ahead can be difficult but am truly trying. I will keep trying to  blog while i study.