As far as Beatry Kanana remembers it, everything seemed perfectly fine on that chilly morning when she left for her pregnancy checkup.
But what followed was heartbreaking.
“What the doctor said left me heartbroken. He told me I couldn’t carry the pregnancy to term because if I did, both I and my child would die. The only way out was to have the baby removed by six months, a premature birth, but that would save both of us,” she says.
It was her second pregnancy, and she had developed high blood pressure (HBP), which was a threat to the baby and her life.
“The doctor said that my blood sugar levels were really high,” she says.
Kanana has always been on the heavier side, which she attributed to genetics.
But when she got pregnant, she weighed 102 kilos, having gained 40 kilos in just four months, thanks to food cravings.
“I was lazy. I did not like doing anything at all. All I did was wake up and drink two litres of cold soda with white bread, which had a thick layer of margarine spread. I did that every day,” she says.
When the doctor’s warning came, she immediately cut on the fizzy drink, bread and margarine.
“That was the hardest thing to do because nothing drives a pregnant woman crazy like the cravings. Worst of all was when the doctor asked that I start walking. It felt like torture because I was too big, and walking had become a problem,” she says.
Escaping a back surgery
Kanana started doing walks, ten times around her house every day.
Although she did not shed weight during the pregnancy, she was able to carry it to term and have a normal delivery.
“It was shocking that I successfully delivered my son without the high blood pressure going up. Soon after the delivery, it crept back. Five days after giving birth, I collapsed and had to be put on drip medication,” she says.
Post childbirth, Kanana vowed to lose the excess weight and regulate her blood pressure through lifestyle changes.
“I thought now that the baby was here, it would be easier to shed a few kilos and wean myself off the HBP drugs. So this friend of mine suggested I find a gym,” she says.
Like everybody else seeking to lose weight quickly, she began her fitness journey by enrolling for cardio classes.
Then someone advised that she try boxing and strength training. At this point, Kanana was also struggling with another condition that needed surgery.
Beatry Kanana performs overhead circles with a medicine ball (left) and works out on a 60kg loaded push sled machine at the Workout Warehouse Gym in Nairobi.
Photo credit: Sinda Matiko | Nation Media Group
“I had severe back problems because of the excess weight and pregnancy. A doctor advised that I needed surgery to fix it. But I believed I could fix the disk problem without surgery,” she says.
When she started boxing, she could barely box while standing.
“The pain was excruciating, so the coach trained me while seated on a gym ball. Lucky enough this coach also has education in physiotherapy, so he gradually pushed the disc back to its position,” she says.
A perfect body
After six months of boxing, Kanana had lost 10 kilos and the coach advised that she combine boxercises with strength training.
“I began with doing the basics in weightlifting. I enjoy leg workouts because they give me strength for boxercise,” she says.
Kanana has so far shed a considerable amount of what she calls “bad weight” and is now 65 kilos.
“My goal is not to have a perfect body, a desirable physique. I honestly would love that, but I am also a realist. I know such body goals do not come easy; it takes years. But the most important thing is to ensure I keep my body moving. I think that’s more important than aesthetics,” says the 44-year-old.
