It's time to share my weight loss story ...
Size 20 to size 10!

 

I got picked on at school for having fat calves!  Yep, crazy opening statement but I promise I will come back to it.

As a Fitness Professional I was embarrassed that I had previously had a weight issue.  I hid it for years and didn’t share my past with anyone. Very tentatively I started to share my past with clients, I was amazed at how open they were to hearing my story and in actual fact how much more my amazing clients were able to relate to me.  They no longer saw me as just a Personal Trainer but as someone who had genuine empathy for where they were at on their weight loss journey.

The second stage of sharing my story starts now, I think it’s important for you to understand what it feels like to reflect on your weight gain and loss and the emotional roller coaster that goes with it.  When you are in the ‘zone’ you truly cannot grasp your emotions and your feelings.

Yes I went through the puppy fat stage as an adolescent but through sport and lifestyle I came out the other side in one piece.  No this is not when I got teased about having fat calves!!!  Late teens I was a ‘normal’ ‘average’ young lady and as crazy as it sounds this is when I got teased for having fat calves...girls can be so nasty!.  But I will get back to the fat calves in a minute. 20’s and early 30’s no drama’s I worked, played and partied as a happy size 10 – 12....then......

Yep I fell pregnant....excitement, joy...love and incredible weight gain!!!  Yeah yeah you say don’t we all but wait a minute....My son was born 11lbs at 38 weeks!  I didn’t eat for 2, I didn’t over indulge I just got huge!!!!  My son was a tourist attraction for the nurses wanting to see the biggest baby born in the hospital for that year.  The hardest part was I still looked 6 months pregnant for the longest time.  How heavy was I?  I wish I knew!  I was so embarrassed to stand on the scales, and now I regret not knowing because I didn’t get the chance to own that number which is such a big part of the weight loss journey.  What I do know is that I was a size 20 elastic waist band.  If I had to be honest I was definitely 100kg and my son was a few months old.

I remember trying to buy ‘gym wear’ and they didn’t go up to my size.  I lost the plot in the middle of the shop!  Yep a hormone melt down, how was I supposed to go to the gym when I don’t have gym clothes and how am I supposed to fit into gym clothes if I have nothing to wear to the gym.......How did I feel? ..... frustrated and embarrassed!

Now to make matters worse in my hormonal over weight world my son was a big boy, not over weight but off the charts in every measurement.  As he moved on to solids I made everything from scratch for fear my son was going to have a weight issue.  People would ask why is your 1 year old not walking? Aaahhh!! Sorry he is 6 months old.   I’ll stop here and say he is 10 now and is as lean as a whip with an amazing body, healthy appetite and a well rounded young man!  Phew!!!  But it was hard as a new mum being overweight with a ‘large’ child.  I felt embarrassed and I felt people were staring at me.  I felt insecure, uncomfortable and when I got cranky at something trivial I over reacted because I added my anger of my weight to the situation.  Was my weight relevant to the issue at hand? Absolutely not but being fat exaggerated my anger.

What made it worse was that I tried everything to drop the kilos.  Yep I tried every fad diet and gimmick I could and nothing worked.  Why?....Now I know why, none of it works!  I understand now that if there was a quick fix we would all be skinny!!!!!!! What did I do......

My son was a year old, I couldn’t lose weight and it depressed me.  I could have eaten my way out of it or in to it.  But instead something snapped and I said "that’s it"!.  I used that anger and channelled it towards success.  I ate ‘well’, no gimmicks, healthy food that was ‘clean’ no processed food, no starvation diets nothing silly.  As for exercise I enlisted a Personal Trainer.  I was accountable for weigh ins, measurements and I tracked my results.  Was it hard? You bet! Did I have highs and lows and then more lows for sure.  But that’s how it works, the key is learning from the experience and learning how to maintain your loss.

I did lose all the weight but I got to a size 14 and said, "well I am a mum now this is it, be happy"!  Those of you who know me know I'm not going to settle for something I am not happy with.  At this stage I had had my second baby, my oldest was 3 my youngest 1 and I was an athletic 14 but I still wasn’t happy.  This is when I started my studies to become a Personal Trainer.  I knew I would be a better Trainer/Health Coach because I had life experience behind me.  I achieved a comfortable size 10-12 and I have maintained that range going on 7 years.  Could I be a lean size 10? Yep I could but that doesn’t give me room to enjoy life and all things yummy in moderation.  The goal is not to be as ‘skinny’ as you can be, the goal is being at a weight where you feel comfortable and able to maintain.

Trust me maintenance is not hard, it’s actually the easy bit...when you know how, that is.  But first things first; you need to get there.  Yo-Yo dieting and fad diets are not going to get you there, what it will do is put you on a weight loss/gain roller coaster for the rest of your life and you will still be angry, frustrated and disappointed with yourself. Education is key, you need to respect where you are, own where you are at and refuse to go back.  How?  Yes it is scary but it can be done...I know I did it and I am prepared to teach you.

Back to the fat calves!!!!!!  I will fill you in on the rest of the story.  I was looking for some long boots just this winter and the sales lady was looking me up and down checking out my legs...She said ‘you have skinny calves, wait right there’ I literally burst out laughing as I remembered being teased as a 16 year old for having fat calves.  Sure enough she brought out an amazing size 10 pair of boots that they hadn’t been able to sell because they are a slim fit.  Lucky me, a $300 pair of boots for $39 and a compliment of having skinny ankles.....it made my day.

Now....I am a successful Personal Trainer and a Fitness Director for a leading health club chain in Australia. I am able to support and motivate so many people on a daily basis but it’s not enough.  I know what it feels like not being able to get into a gym or not being able to find someone who you can connect with to help you on your journey....I share because I share your pain but I also want to share your joy in achieving your goal.

Unfortunately there are not many photos of me and my son, I was embarrassed by my size.  It's not a great example but it's the best I have, check out that double chin!!!  32 years old Size 20, and now a size 10/12 at 42 years old!  I look younger now!!!

 

www.realfitnessforrealwomen.com.au