I want to thank my friend and fitness enthusiast, Tanvee, for writing a guest blog for me. Her weight loss is incredibly inspiring. It will make you think, that how can a human be so determined and in control? She is!!!

I would like to add, that she has been giving me workouts,  since almost a year and I admit I love them!!!

If, you have any questions please, leave in the comment box or head over to her blog!
Her instagram is  @tanveemanuel
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I am so excited to do a guest blog, this feels awesome. Hope all of Z readers find something useful through this post. Thank you Z for giving me this opportunity J
Before the weight-loss

1.     When and how did you decide to lose the weight?
All my life I have wanted to lose weight. I don’t remember a single day when I didn’t feel fat or overweight. So I can’t really pin point to when and how I decided to lose, I tired many diets, many random workouts but nothing ever worked. When I finished my studies and started working my work colleagues would eat very healthy lunch so just to fit in I started eating like them and that’s when I noticed the weight started to finally come off without me feeling like I was trying too hard that’s when I started believing that I could really lose weight
2.      How did you lose it?
I lost my weight very slowly because I realised small changes made it easier for me to stay consistent. I started with only swapping one meal for a healthy meal overtime I swapped all my meals for healthy options. For a long time I only form of workout was walking, then I moved to other exercises at home and finally I joined them gym. Even in the gym I took small steps. I have always been a firm believer in small steps and consistency. That’s why it did take me a long time to lose weight and I am still work in progress.
I workout about 5 times a week, I change my workouts very often but usually I have a mixture of cardio and weight training.
So my mantra to losing weight is
Small steps + consistency
Cardio + weights + recovery time
No cheat days because it’s a lifestyle change

Tanvee enjoying her workout 🙂

3.      How do you handle/ handled social gatherings while losing weight?
Initially I did have a problem trying to convince people because people thought I was starving myself because most people were used to seeing me eat large portions so when I cut down my portions they were worried. It was difficult for me to say no, so I would do the sharing trick, always split anything in my plate with my husband or my sister or anybody willing to share, otherwise I would fill my plate with the healthy stuff so my plate always looked full finally in time I got the confidence to say no and most of my friends, family got used to the new me plus they noticed I was not harming myself so everybody backed off in time

Another, before picture
4.      How hard or easy it is?
For me the hardest part was not seeing the results as fast as I hoped but to be fair I did not start eating clean and working out at the same nor did I start with a 100% eating clean so I saw results that reflected my effort. In time my efforts improved so did the results and the best part was I actually fell in love with this new lifestyle.
It was also hard to figure out the social aspect like saying no or explaining to people why my workout schedule was more important than a party …but the actual workouts or eating clean was not that hard for me. I was open to trying new things, I enjoyed experimenting with food, trying recipes and I also made friends in the gym who kept me going till I fell in love with the gym. Now it’s my play ground.
How she looks now

5.      Advise to those starting this journey:)
1.      Start small, choose something you enjoy doing or something that is manageable so it helps you start
2.      Don’t ever give up (you have no idea how many times I have failed, even now there are times when I can’t see the improvement I expect but if I give up I will have to start all over again because my dream to become fitter will never go)
3.      Don’t complicate things. Being fit losing weight is all about eating clean which means eating fresh, not processed stuff  and staying active means choosing any activity that you enjoy (doesn’t always have to be the gym)
4.      Just because you are overweight please don’t think less of yourself (this one is very important. I gave up on lot of opportunities; my confidence was very low even now I struggle with this but this my number one advice to anybody who is struggling with weight. You matter more than your weight)