Adele Fa'aeteete made huge changes in her life. Photo / Supplied
Two years ago, Adele Fa'aeteete faced the most challenging time of her life.
She was not only battling post-natal depression after the birth of her first son, but she also lost her sister to a rare blood disease.
It was in that moment the 33-year-old started an unhealthy relationship with food.
At her heaviest, she weighed 133kg.
"I lived off cans of Coke, at least 20 a day, fun size family packs of Snickers bars, drive-through takeaways and instant coffee," Adele told news.com.au.
It reached a point where the Canberra mother-of-two refused to look in the mirror.
"I stopped socialising, deactivated all social media accounts, blocked my own phone number so if people needed me they would have to call my husband," she explained.
"I never looked in the mirror. I was lethargic, run down and suffering in a cloud of grief from losing my sister."
She also stopped going out to the shops and talking to her family.
"Taking the kids to the playground was a massive effort for me because I would have to get dressed and there was anxiety that I would run into someone I know," she said.
After facing health struggles with diastasis recti and post-partum thyroiditis, Adele was pushed to consider a healthier lifestyle.
"On the advice of a psychologist I was seeing, I forced myself to start moving, with the end goal of being fully functional and present to play with my beautiful children and find a way to manage my grief," Adele told news.com.au.
It was this decision that helped Adele lose 53kg and inspire her family to reach a collective weight loss of 240kg.
"I ate cleanly," she said.
"For me it was cutting out all the sugar, caffeine and refined carbs my body was so used to. I stuck to a strict regimen of salads, fish and chicken and three litres of water daily."
Adele moved every single day after joining her local F45 gym.
"In my first eight weeks, I placed second globally in one of their challenges, releasing 18kg of body fat," she explained.
She also joined Isagenix in July 2018, starting with the Premium Weight Loss pack.
"I incorporated two Isagenix shakes daily to help with my nutritional upkeep as I was also breastfeeding so all of a sudden I noticed how great nutrition and water was helping to boost my supply significantly."
Today, Adele is a different person who stands tall, confident and proud of her achievements.
"I started articulating what I wanted and was very sure with my decisions, being able to lift my own children into a cuddle made me feel most empowered and being able to go outside again and look forward to bumping into someone for the sake of saying hello was a gamechanger," she said.
Adele, who now weighs 75kg, said she feels "strong, lean, accomplished, resilient and confident".
"I have been able to help many others with their weight loss too as I know how it feels and the struggles we have to overcome to achieve it. I am so driven to help others to see beyond the haze that I was once in," Adele said.
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