As written for SophistiCareer: http://sophisticareer.com.au/half-the-woman-i-was-how-i-lost-70kg-naturally-part-2/

Step two may seem a bit of a ‘no brainer’ – incorporating exercise into my daily routine. But what kind of exercise would produce maximum results with the least effort? And how little could I really get away with? With my eating plan becoming more comfortable it was now time to get my body right.

At 143kg I struggled to walk, puffing at the slightest incline or increased pace. I would park close to where I was going so I hardly had to walk. I would even drive around trying to find the closest parking space rather than walking an extra 50 metres. So I knew I had to start slow.

At first exercising was just a burning desire to prove the world wrong: that I was born with the world’s worst metabolism and I couldn’t lose weight. I began with a gentle stroll each day at about 3km/hr (225 cal/hr). It was all I could manage. I’d have preferred to be couch surfing and move quickly towards an early death.

But as I started to see results on the scales my mind shifted and I started to actually enjoy it. I began wearing a pedometer and became more creative about ways I could increase my step count: park further away; take the stairs; just move more. That initial change, getting into action, was the most important. Once I actually started doing some exercise it became easier, and once it became easier I then felt like doing more.

With increased activity my mood began to change – the air of depression gradually began to lift and I started to feel more positive. I still had the occasional day where I fell off the wagon – but they became fewer and fewer. In the end weight loss is about consistency of action and commitment to yourself.

Due to my size I had to start with low weight bearing activities to prevent injury. I began to research the amount of calories burned with various exercises. Swimming (563 cal/hr) would have been a good option but the thought of me in a bathing suit in a public pool was paralysing. I opted instead for a stationary bike (675 cal/hr) which I could watch in front of the TV. It kept my mind occupied and enabled me to burn more calories especially as I could wear just a crop top and shorts to work out harder. I may have looked awful but it was in private. And so I began to sweat – a lot of sweat.

But with all this sweat came dehydration, so I had to learn about water: How much did the body need at rest? What about when exercising? What does water actually do in the body? I found out I now needed 4.2 litres each day to rid my body of the toxins from my weight loss activities. Boy was that a lot to get down every day, but my results on the scales continued to improve with each passing week.

After I’d lost around 40kg I wanted to start toning my excess skin so I wouldn’t look like a saggy baggy elephant. I read about the benefits of resistance training for skin elasticity. More importantly I learned that by combining it with high intensity cardio I could actually achieve better weight loss and fitness results by spending less time exercising. I was sold.

But I soon learned that I also had to implement a stretching and recovery routine to get the best results. If I’d trained every day my body would have gotten fatigued, and I’d have become stiff and sore. My body needed time to recover, heal itself and, in the process, build more muscle. And the coolest thing was that having a higher proportion of muscle mass not only meant I looked thinner, it enabled me to burn more fat all day long – even while I was sleeping!

I didn’t realise I had learned so much about my body – now I was really on a roll and I was more motivated than ever. But there was a third and very crucial step that I was about to start implementing, and it was this last step that would make the biggest difference to my weight loss and give me the secret to lifelong health and vitality.

Read about Sigrid’s third step to her amazing weight loss transformation in part 3 of “How I Lost 70kg Naturally” coming soon.