For years, Wambui Masitsa struggled with weight gain. "It has been quite a journey. I've always wanted to lose weight because I've been on the heavier side. Even in college, I was bigger than my agemates," she says.
When she bought her first car and started walking less, Wambui gained even more weight. But that wasn't the only factor—her career as a wedding cake artist made things even harder.
"There was always cake in the house, and I would find myself biting into it here and there," she says.
By 2023, she had reached 110 kilos, the heaviest she had ever been.
“I stepped on a weighing scale one day, saw that number and I thought, ‘No, this is not me. I can’t.”
Wambui Masitsa during an interview in Nairobi, on January 27, 2025.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation
Hormonal-based diet
Like many people struggling with weight loss, Ms Wambui had tried every diet under the sun. "There is no diet I have not done. All the ones you know, and even some you don’t, I have done them all," she says.
Among the diets she tried were the Dukan diet, paleo, keto, the cabbage soup diet, the egg diet and intermittent fasting.
"I even tried eating eggs every single day. Some of these diets are not even popular," she says.
Despite her dedication, nothing seemed to work. Wambui says she would lose a few kilos, but the weight always came back, creating a never-ending cycle.
That all changed when a friend introduced her to a specialist who focused on weight loss through hormone balance.
"That's when I learned about the connection between hormones and weight loss, particularly insulin."
Ms Wambui was put on a hormonal-based diet which was tailored specifically for her body. "It’s a diet based on your blood composition. You take blood tests, and from that, they create a meal plan designed to balance your hormones," she says.
She learned that hormones, especially insulin, play a huge role in weight gain and loss. "If you control your insulin, you control weight," she says.
Unlike fad diets, this approach was nowhere near the quick fixes. It is a science-based method. It is not just about what you eat but how your body processes the food.
The biggest change? Cutting out carbohydrates.
"I always tell my friends although I’m a Luhya woman, I managed not to eat ugali in a year. No rice, no pasta. For one whole year, I stayed away from carbs completely," she says.
However, she ate wheat although in small amounts. "A lot of people say don’t eat wheat, but I was eating sourdough bread although once a week or once in two weeks."
She says her main diet consisted of vegetables and proteins. "I ate a lot of greens and meats—beef, chicken, liver, organ meats, and fish," she says. Some vegetables were also off-limits. "Carrots, for example, have high sugar content, so I avoided them."
By the time she completed one year on the diet, Ms Wambui had lost 42 kilos. The results were life-changing, but the journey was not easy.
"Weight loss is 90 percent diet. Exercise only helps with cardiovascular health and toning, but if your diet is wrong, no amount of exercise will help," she says.
At one point, she even stopped exercising but kept losing weight. "That’s when I confirmed weight loss is all about food. Food is thy medicine," she says.
Currently at 68 kilos, Ms Wambui’s focus is on maintaining her weight. "Not all diets work for everyone. You need to understand your body and what it responds to," says Ms Wambui.
Fridah Keitany narrates her journey on dieting during an interview at Nation Centre, Nairobi, on January 28, 2025.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation
Hiking, Banting, and Intermittent Fasting
Fridah Keitany, an accountant and financial expert who currently weighs 75 kilos, never imagined embarking on a serious weight loss journey. However, after an accident in 2020 that left her immobile for months, combined with post-lockdown weight gain, she found herself struggling with extra kilos.
By 2023, when she gave birth and gained more weight Ms Keitany hit 106 kilos mark. The frustration made her turn to hiking and daily walks.
“I started being serious about my weight loss. And how I started first was to do hiking and walking. I joined a group of women in Nairobi West where we could walk together early morning from 5.30am. On Saturdays, I had joined a team that we would do the Ngong Sanctuary for 20 kilometres,” she says.
Later that year Ms Keitany started her dieting. “I started doing something called banting,” she says.
Banting which is a low-carb, high-protein diet categorises foods into three groups: Green (Eat Freely) proteins and vegetables, Orange (Eat in Moderation) foods that can be consumed occasionally and Red (Avoid) that are mainly carbohydrates.
“I was not doing a lot of carbohydrates,” she says.
However, despite the effectiveness of the diet, Ms Keitany found banting to be expensive, which made her stop the trail. “Banting brings results but it is an expensive diet. If you are not ready to spend the money, you have to quit,” she says.
Still on the grid, she decided to complement her workouts with intermittent fasting which she alternated between 24-hour and 16-hour fasting periods. Ms Keitany explains to survive on only water and tea during her fasting hours.
“When I stopped banting, I needed something that could complement the exercise. I did intermittent fasting and avoided a lot of carbs. However, I found it difficult to quite like how many other people would opt for. I needed energy so I have always been using sugar,” she says.
“Even until now, I can’t take a big portion of rice or ugali. No, I can’t,” she adds.
Although she is exactly where she hoped to be, Ms Keitany says fasting is one of the most difficult venture especially when you are starting. “Weight loss is not easy. It’s a journey. If you can discipline yourself, tell yourself that I’m not eating for 36 hours. You will experience hunger which will make you be tempted to take something. But be consistent and develop that discipline.”
Her state?
“Right now, I only do the fasting one or two days a week. That is my compulsory standard,” she says.
As for her diet, she has adapted to eating everything in small portions.
“If weight loss has worked for me, it has taken consistency and discipline. You mess up, you pick yourself up and move on. Tomorrow, start again.”
Julius Ngugi during an interview at Nation Centre, Nairobi, on January 31, 2025.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation
From 93kgs to 70kgs
Like many city dwellers, Julius Ngugi found himself eating late at night which saw him indulge his extra appetite after long workdays. He hit 93kg, thanks to the eating trait and work schedule.
His solution? Intermittent fasting combined with a ketogenic diet.
Mr Ngugi first experimented with intermittent fasting which he defines as a time-restricted eating method where you eat within a specific window.
"Intermittent fasting is simply reducing the number of meals you eat and when to eat. I realised that I was eating too early and too late, which was affecting my weight."
He began by eliminating one meal a day, eating twice instead of three times. Over time, he extended his fasting window which ensured his last meal was before 6pm.
"I would always carry my last meal to work so that I don’t end up repeating the cycle of eating late given that I leave my workplace very late and if I didn’t carry food I had to be intentional about what I ate," he says.
The reward was evident he started noticing a difference in his weight. But while fasting controlled his meal timing, that was not the only thing that counted. Mr Ngugi realised that what he ate mattered just as much as the time frame.
He tagged to the ketogenic diet, which he says focuses on very low carbohydrate intake.
"A ketogenic diet is where your carbohydrate intake is between twenty to fifty grammes per day. It’s different from a low-carb diet, which allows up to one hundred and fifty grammes. In keto, you completely avoid common starches like rice, chapati and ugali."
Instead, his meals now consisted of high-protein and high-fat foods like eggs, meat, nuts, and leafy vegetables. He removed all refined carbohydrates and replaced them with natural sources like pumpkins, arrowroots, and sweet potatoes but in moderate amounts.
"On a keto diet, carbohydrates come from vegetables. Avocados, tomatoes, cabbage, sukuma wiki, and spinach provide the little carbs my body needs."
Mr Ngugi started his journey in January 2021 with a low-carb diet before fully transitioning to keto in February. Alongside this, he incorporated high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in the mornings on an empty stomach.
"I used to do exercises like jump jacks, skipping rope, and push-ups for 45 minutes of intense training which made a difference," he says.
By June 2021, after four months of strict keto, intermittent fasting, and consistent exercise, he had dropped from 93 kg back to 70 kg.
To date Mr Ngugi still follows a ketogenic lifestyle.
"The suit I’m wearing today, I bought it in December 2020 when I was 93 kilos. I had to take it to the tailor to adjust it after losing weight, and I still wear it today as a reminder of where I came from," he says.
