For nearly half my life, I was the fat friend. I weighed about 75 kilograms, while being only 150 cm tall. I was almost double the size of all my skinny friends. I hated going to school everyday because of the single thought that people were talking about the fat that was bursting out my uniform.

Don’t worry. This article is not going to be about the consequences of fat shaming. People never bullied me for my size. However, I bullied myself, and I was very good at it.

I would wake up in the morning, weighed down by my fat and the first thing I would do is run to the mirror and feel sorry for myself. “All my friends are skinny, so why aren’t I?” I would say. I hated every inch of my body: my fat face; my fat fingers; my neck stuck to my body; my fat arms and legs; and my worst enemy – stretch marks.

I led my fat-shaming life thinking this is it. I will always be the fat friend. Until one day, I noticed that one of the 10th graders had lost about 30 kilograms in a matter of months. When I asked her how she did it, she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Exercise and diet.” This was the first time I actually saw a person, an actual person that was not Monica Geller on Friends that lost weight by dieting and exercising. I thought it was impossible.

The very next day, I went to the grocery store with my mother to force her to buy food that would work for my diet. I called up a friend that was the school’s running champion and asked him to run with me every day. I printed excel sheets to tick off the type of exercise that I did everyday.

I ordered the Insanity Program by Shaun T. I was done feeling sorry for myself.

 Fast forward 75 days, I was down 25 kilograms. My secret was composed of three parts:

1. Never Starve Myself

I wanted to lose weight more than anything, but I didn’t want to deteriorate my health. I made up a diet that suited my likes and dislikes.

Breakfast

-Up to 5 boiled eggs

-1 piece of low-fat toast bread

Lunch

Either half a grilled chicken, 1 grilled fish or infinite number of tuna cans made into a salad.

I allowed myself to eat any type of fruit or vegetable when I was hungry. Any type. Any amount. So, it was all right for me to eat up to 10 bananas and not worry about my daily calorie count. I never starved myself.

2. Excessive Exercise

My daily exercise was composed of the following:

-Run for no less than an hour

-600 sit-ups

-1 Insanity episode

-Cycle for at least 5 kilometers

I know these do sound extreme, but trust me; it was only the first week that exhausted me. After that week, I felt that my body was hungry for more exercise and so, my one-hour running session turned into two hours and my 600 sit-ups turned into 1200.

3. No Cheat Days

No matter what happened, I did not allow myself to cheat my routine. I wasn’t allowed to take one bite of that birthday cake or skip breakfast. I wasn’t allowed to skip an exercise because I had studies. I used to put my book on the treadmill and read. There was no room for excuses.

This is it. That’s my big secret. I found my motivation and I stuck myself to it. Trust me, if I can do it, you can too. It’s not difficult. Just remember, diet, exercise and do not cheat under any circumstance.

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