Destiny Testimones: God Answers ALL Prayers

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by today!

I'll be sharing a fanstatic testimony here today!!! Enjoy!!!

****

I had a baby about two years ago and of course I gained some weight. I gained about 50 pounds to be exact...that's alot of weight. After giving birth I was able to loose about 40 pounds with exercise, portion control and breast feeding. I was doing good...10 pounds away from pre-baby weight but I just stopped. I found myself in a stressful situation and lost all motivation. 

Recently, I realized that I was not happy with my weight. So I decided to start on the journey after gaining an additional 10 pounds. So I have 20 pounds to loose plus some muscle toning to combat the loose skin that I acquired after pregnancy. 

I've been on this journey many times before; and I don't like it too much...it's long, hard, and can be overwhelming. But I determined to be healthy, I have a destiny to fulfill and a family to cater to. At times like this, one person comes to mind...my dear friend Abimbola Adeniranye. Bimbo's testimony always amazes me and inspires me. I sent her a bbm a few weeks ago for some motivation and I've been on the journey since. 

Read her testimony below:

So who is Abimbola Adeniranye?

I’m not exactly sure how to answer this. Not cos I don’t know who I am, cos I do! Lol Lemme see… umm I’m a Nigerian girl, middle child born to a family I absolutely adore. Love Jesus Christ and all he is, does, and stands for. Recovering shy girl. Love people and love being able to be a tool when a person needs something. I’m a bit confusing.. somewhat of an introvert and an extrovert at the same time.. I’ll lean more naturally towards intro. I love to laugh. I LOVE food. Like to sleep. I can be quite the creature of habit which is great for consistency sake but can be dangerous for change/growth sake if not checked. My family may use the word “stubborn” to describe me  bleh.. but they may also throw in “honest” and “determined” just to make me feel better im sure lol.. I think that’s enough sharing for now.. My extrovert is loving it but my introvert is getting itsy lol 

Tell us about your weight loss journey?

I’ll go straight to the point. My weight gain journey maxed out at 245lbs 5ft4in and 19 years old. It was in July of that year, at that personal weight high that I decided (again) to lose weight and this time stick to it until I at least could get back below 200lbs which was where I thought I could aspire to get to and no less. HA! I never paid attention to weight loss or gain, or health really growing up in Nigeria, when I moved to the US after high school in 2001, I just kept gaining and eating and the first time I remember a number on a scale it was 190lbs.. needless to say, it kept climbing and climbing and even though (in my mind mentally anyways) I though I was doing my best (looking back now, I really wasn’t.. not consistently anyways). It went up until 245lbs in 2006.

I probably went from maybe about 160-170lbs when i first came to my highest weight of 245lbs in July 2006. Between about 190lbs and the 245lbs, I would try to exercise and diet here and there, lose a few lbs and gain it all back again (and then some). This time, I prayed to God about it, for the strength, grace and help to start the journey to lose weight one final time and God answered my prayers beyond my wildest imaginations (as of that time. I TOTALLY DID NOT see it getting to where he has helped me get to now). I started exercising daily and cutting my portion sizes and educating myself about food, exercise and also did quite a bit of work also in my mind, stretching myself as far as self motivating thoughts, discipline, etc.

What were your main vices?

FOOD! Was and (still is) a major vice of mine. I like it bad, I like it fried, I like it carb filled, and worst of all, I like it plenty in quantity! Lol sooo with that combination, that was a hard part for me. It is still my major struggle. I’d probably be more excellent at this if I could get total control over that. Esp. the portion side. But I tried to portion control.. I didn’t really cut anything out. 

Did you try to lose weight before? What happened?

Absolutely! I would. Do a bit here and there with food and exercise but I would never remain consistent. And didn’t find ways to make them things I could do for me.. knowing myself. That would challenge me but also keep me at it and work for me to stay going for the long haul. I would lose a bit, and gain a lot more. And I didn’t know enough about what I was trying to achieve to make it work for me

How much did you weigh at your heaviest and how much do you weigh now?

I think I answered the first part above already. But I was 245lbs at 5ft 4in at 19years old at my heaviest. Now I’m 29 years old, still 5ft 4in (fortunately or unfortunately lol) and I dance between 145lbs and 155lbs most times. 

What influenced your decision to loose weight?

To be honest, food motivates me. I love food soo much, It motivates me to work out lol. I would be lying if I said the physical aspect didn’t matter cos it absolutely did! I also want to look good. I want to look a certain way to be honest, and I pray God gives me the grace to continue to do what it takes to care about how i look. Another motivator was family; Family is a big deal to me. And looking down the line to my future, I want to be that mom/wife that is healthy and able to do things with my husband, children, grandchildren etc while feeling and hopefully looking good and healthy all along the way. I want to live a life for God the best way possible and that includes my trying to take care of myself as best I can to be the best for him and others around me. Make yourself a priority and those around you that you love will benefit from that!

What was the first thing you did to begin your journey?

Not to sound superrrr spiritual. But honestly, the first thing I did (and kept doing throughout even until now) was involve God and pray to him about it. It was a conversation like every other. I expressed what I wanted and how I needed him in every way cos I couldn’t do it on my own.. but I was ready to join forces with him lol. And I listened to what I felt he was telling me I needed to do in me and around me. 

I also got a calendar that I used to record what I did daily (I have one for every year since then). I prefer hardcopy and not electronic so that I can physically write what I am doing. One of the ones where the whole month is outlined on one page. I used a colored marker to cross out the day I do nothing. So when I see too many of the marker color, I know I need to pick up the next week to avoid too many mark offs on that week. That helped me personally just mentally as a self motivator. Cos I did it mostly with me having to motivate myself for the most part. (like I said, introvert side). I also set goals at every stage.. and rewarded myself sometimes (mostly with fav sinful foods that I can't have until I achieve lol) and set new goals with each one accomplished. Then I whipped out the treadmill we had sitting in our garage for over five years, purchased a static exercise bike, planned my food, researched a bit about what I was committing to do and starting to do, mixed the research up with my personal preferences and got to it!  

Which were the best or most successful techniques you used and why?

For me, portion control was huge. Again cos personally (you have to know yourself but still challenge that version of yourself you know) I love food. I cut out soda but I personally did not want to cut out rice or other faves. So I got to eat it, but with a calorie max for the day, I got to eat less. I guess I coulda eaten a bigger portion of greens or a small portion of rice. I did both at different times. But I went with portion control. Keeping my daily caloric intake to a certain number as much as possible. So that motivated me not to waste it on calorie drinks cos I needed to eat food lol and drinks ate into my calorie count big time. I also did a lot of exercising. Both were hard. But for me, personally, exercise made me feel good (the after feeling tho, never the before or during feeling). And my love for food made the food part more of a struggle for me. I knew I had to do both to get any kind of long lasting result. But cos of my love for food, I did a lot of compensating on the exercise part. Again both must be done for long lasting results and overall health.

What are the best things you have found about losing weight?

The way I look and the way I feel are definitely two of my favorite things. But also a big deal is mentally. The fact that I did this… showed me that I could in fact do more than I though I could. I am more determined than I thought. Not as lazy as I had thought. That I could set my mind to anything and do it. Mentally, that is huge. In every part of my life, I apply it when I think I can't. I remember, I once thought I couldn’t lose weight! Also spiritually, I thought it was more likely in my lifetime for me to see a dead man raised. If anyone told me at 18yrs old that weight wise, I would look how I did by 20 years old, I would have laughged at them like sarah laughed at the angels when she got the message that she and Abraham would have a child at their age. It was the most impossible of all impossibles to me. But hey! Apparently God really can do the impossible! And isf I “join forces with him” and get to it! Doing what I can, so can I apparently!

Is there anything you are going to do now that you never would have done before you lost the weight?

Lol I dunno. Hopefully keep it up! Its still an everyday struggle for a choice between work out and don’t workout.. or eat this and don’t eat that. Or eat less or eat more.. or prioritize and order your life or don’t.. It’s a struggle for me cos it doesn’t come as naturally to me as it might to some people to do the right things and chose the right things. But God is helping me.. and I’m still on his team.. working with him, surrendering to him, allowing myself to be changed by his.. so yea.. hopefully keep it up! And I’m sure some impossible thing will happen that I can’t see right now but I will do.. I don’t really know anything specific to answer this question (fortunately or unfortunately lol) 

What would you say to those struggling and want to do what you have done?

Do it cos you want it and cos you’ve been thinking about it for years.. letting it occupy your mind. One year from today will come… you will meet it, the same way a year ago you thought about it, and now, it’s a year later.. its still there. The difference in next year being different is what you do with the time in between. It’s a daily, gradual, uneventful day by day commitment to doing what needs to be done each day to get you closer that will get you there. You may not have cheerleaders there, I didn’t for the most part, you have to be your own and get it done! Committ to it either you feel like it or not! If you fall off, so what? The tragedy will be to not get back on it! Once you relaize, get back on it and go again, even if you have to start steps back from when you were in the groove. Still restart. Every Monday for me, was restart day cos I fell off quite a few times (and I still do like all the time) lol.. but you get back on it! Keep it up! You do have what it takes to do anything you set your mind to, commit your efforts to, work hard on and and join forces with God to accomplish!

Also, Find the BEST way to do what works for you. Lots of people have advice, don't ignore the good advice. Try it out, and find what works for you and what makes you the best, then do that. And you'll improve YOUR best over time. Make it YOUR own. What works for Bunmi may not work for me and vice versa. Take the good advice, challenge yourself to be better than your best effort, and stay consistent with improving! If you fall off, get back on whenever you realize. It's a lifelong lifestyle  

Workout routine:

Right now; I aim to workout 5 days a week. Most weeks i succeed, But I must end up with no less than 4 days a week. When i was loosing the weight tho, i aimed to workout 7 days a week, minimum of 5 days a week and most days, I did two-a-day workouts (in the morning before work/school and again in at night after work/school before bed)

Right now I do a minimum 3-4 days a week of incline treadmill (4.5miles for an hour). Then I do at least 4 days a week of muscle work; either muscle tone home workout dvd's at home; I have diff ones for abs, lower body,. upper body, total body, pilates, etc OR at the gym, i'll take either bodycombat class (mix of kickboxing, cardio and tai chi) or bodypump class (bars and weight circuit). I LOVE BODYPUMP to tone muscle. Or i go for bootcamp classes once in a week or so (I just recently started taking these). So to summarize: Cardio about 4-6 days a week and muscle tone/sculpt at 3-5 times a week.

Thank you so much for sharing your testimony Bimbo! You are truly an inspiration and thank you for stressing the GOD factor! With God ALL things are possible!!!

I hope you were blessed by this testimony! If you'd like to share a testimony here, please send an email to: destinationdestiny7@gmail.com (you have the option of being anonymous). 

You're blessed!

- Bunmi

Wait before you go:

1. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, life won't make any sense, it will be cold and empty. You deserve more! Take a few minutes and click on the 'Come to Jesus' tab at the top of the page and be saved!

2. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

3. You can subscribe to this blog and receive email updates once a new post is published by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email' section located on the right of this post.

4. You can share this post or previous posts by clicking on the respective social media icon on the right.

5. Follow me on twitter @BunmiAdebiyi_

6. Like my page on facebook: Bunmi Adebiyi

7. Follow me on Instagram: destinationdestiny_mlmt