You could say that I was a lucky teenager because I ate like a truck driver but didn’t put on any weight. I was extremely thin but never went to the gym, and I was completely ignorant about nutrition. I didn’t know anything about living a healthy lifestyle. My parents raised me on the meat and two veg principle because they didn’t know anything about nutrition either.
I hadn’t been overweight until I had my first child at 35. I ate as if I was eating for three people and put on 20 kilos. I wasn’t happy about the weight I’d gained, and I tried everything in my power to lose it, but it just wasn’t coming off because I couldn’t stop eating. My problem was that I’d been used to eating what I wanted my entire life, and I hadn’t put on any weight, so my body couldn’t adjust to dieting. Cutting down on food wasn’t an option for me. I had to find an alternative.
After my second child, I put on another 20 kilos, and it was just downhill from then onwards. As far as I was concerned, I was severely overweight and had no muscle because I had never worked out. Now that I had two children to look after, my stress levels were through the roof. I ate and drank plenty of wine to get myself through the day. I was always exhausted, and I had no energy. I would go to bed exhausted and wake up exhausted, and I would eat unhealthy foods to give me energy, but it was just one big vicious cycle.
At 39, I decided enough was enough. I wanted to look my best at 40, and I committed to lose the weight by any means necessary, so I hired a personal trainer. He introduced me to the paleo diet, and I haven’t looked back since. The paleo diet involves cutting out dairy products, grains, legumes, refined sugars, and carbohydrates and eating lean meats, fish, seeds, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. It sounds very restrictive, but it’s not. I was eating loads and was shocked at the amount of weight I was losing. This was the perfect diet for me. I’d lost 15 kilos within three months, and I was thrilled. By my 40th birthday, I had achieved my weight loss goal of 61 kilos. I felt and looked amazing. This was the best I’d looked in my entire life because now I was toned as I was doing a lot of strength training with my personal trainer.
I would say to anyone out there wanting to lose weight, focus on the things you can change and embrace the things you can’t. My body is covered in cellulite, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve accepted it and focus my energy on developing my body so that I can be strong, fit, and healthy when I’m in my fifties. I’ve learned that there are no miracle weight loss cures, a healthy diet has got to become a lifestyle, and that’s the only way to keep the weight off.
