Inspired by her story, Allen started working out. He started doing workout routines given to him by his gym instructor, focusing on cardio by using the treadmill and stationary bike. After that, he lifted light-weight dumbbells with several sets and repetition which was very helpful in losing weight. He also took out rice from all his meals.
In less than three months he lost 12 kg, from 94 kg to 82 kg. After seeing results from his gym workouts, he started joining his dad for jogs. It slowly became his passion, and later on started venturing and joining triathlons. He joined competitions such as the Tri United Series and the Ironman 70.3. Still very active in sport, Allen weighs in at just 71 kg now, an impressive 23kg away from his 94 kg life before.
“When I was asked to do household chores, I accomplish it right away compared to before since I know that by doing this, I can burn some calories. Also, when I park my car every morning when I go to school, I choose the farthest slot from the stairs. I use the stairs instead of the elevator.”
Allen’s top four tips on losing weight:
- Value the little things. For every goal that you have, what counts are the small steps you make to achieve them.
- It’s fine to be obsessed. BUT be obsessed for the right reasons.
- Treat every task as a “workout” to burn calories.
- Change your attitude towards this change, and it’ll help you become a more responsible person.
The Runner
“Before, I thought there’s nothing more I can do about [my weight] and at times I would look at the mirror and ask myself if there is still hope in my weight.”
—Marthy Climaco
Before committing to a lifestyle change, Marthy used to weigh 86 kg and was well into the category of being overweight. Day to day physical activities and chores were difficult for him and easily drained his body’s energy. Ridicule and jokes even started surfacing. Then, at some point during college, Marthy said he got so big that some of his clothes didn’t fit anymore. He started hating how he looked and how he weighed. These were his wake up calls to start losing weight.
Marthy started out small by just walking around his village, which eventually led to running. Later on, joined a 5 km fun run and it didn’t take too long before he got hooked to 2 new sports—swimming and biking. Eventually, he joined a triathlon.
“What really gave a big impact on the change in me was the change of lifestyle and discipline.”
Marthy starts his routine (he still does this everyday!) by waking up around 4:30 am and usually takes a cold bath to wake him up. After that, he drinks lots of fluids to hydrate his body and eats two bananas. When it comes to food, balance is everything, says Marthy.
After a month and a half of working out every day and eating healthy, Marthy went from 76 kg to 64 kg! That’s a 12 kg weight loss! His topmost advice is to always discipline yourself and to enjoy working out and living a healthy lifestyle. Right now, he’s focused on maintaining his health by running and being conscientious about what he eats.
“It feels different as well as good waking up everyday not feeling bad about the food that I eat. My well-being feels different in a way that you feel energized.”
Marthy’s top three tips on losing weight:
1. Changing your lifestyle is like changing the whole system of your body, which includes the things you do and what you eat.
2. Be passionate.
3. It’s not too late to start. You just have to motivate and discipline yourself, and start the change now not tomorrow, not the next day, but now.
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Thank you very much to Luigi, Allen, and Marthy for sharing their story to me and to everyone about how they transformed their lives for the better. Also special thanks to Anthea Reyes and Blew Kirsten for the help with this article.
