Anna lost the weight over only 11-months. Photo / News.com.au
Anna lost the weight over only 11-months. Photo / News.com.au
When it comes to Christmas, trying to lose weight becomes almost impossible when surrounded by fruit cake, ham and piles of pavlova.
But it was this time last year when 48-year-old Anna received an intervention from her friends, desperately pleading that she makes a change to her dangerous lifestyle.
Tipping the scales at 206kg, Anna didn't think she was overly unhealthy, and also didn't believe her diet was completely out of the ordinary.
"You don't weigh yourself when you're that big," Anna, a logistics manager in Sydney, told news.com.au.
"In all honesty, I didn't see myself as being unhealthy. I have been overweight on and off my whole life, but when my friends came to me … they started crying because they were worried. They wanted me to see a trainer, and I said OK … I will do it as a favour for them."
Prior to changing her diet and exercise habits, Anna's day on a plate often meant skipping breakfast and sometimes lunch, but eating more than a whole day's worth of calories across an afternoon and into the evening.
"I would always get hungry after lunch and I would eat more at dinner than any other time," she said.
"I would have whole blocks of chocolate and whole packets of chips. Basically, I was doubling my food intake at night with pasta, lots of meat and maybe a bit of salad."
Anna said she would often hide herself away and avoid social situations because of her weight, and that completing certain exercise tasks often left her in pain.
Anna is now under 100kg. Photos / News.com.au
"I wouldn't walk much as my back would kill me," she said. "I'd get very tired, so I would take my car to the corner shop because I didn't want to walk. I wouldn't socialise much because when you're that big you don't want to go out or know what to wear. You feel like you're being judged, but no one will judge you more than yourself."
Anna decided to follow her friends' advice, and signed up with a trainer at Vision Personal Training.
At first, her trainer Kyle targeted Anna's diet and implemented an exercise regimen. Starting at working out four times a week, she's now increased her fitness sessions to seven days.
A combination of eliminating sugar, increasing cardio and eating at multiple intervals each day has led Anna to hit her yearly weight loss goal of 100kg in just 11 months.
"I'm currently at 98.5kg, and I can't even remember the last time I was under 100kg," she said.
"It feels great. In my mind I'm still getting to my goal weight and I will be excited when I reach that because I now see myself as still being big.
"I set myself a mission. I would not eat junk food for an entire year and I have stuck to that. So I am looking forward to rewarding myself in January."
For breakfast, Anna will usually have a protein shake, some toast or an egg with avocado. For her snacks, she has either a banana or some almonds. Lunch will be basmati rice with vegetables and chicken or a soup, and dinner is simply more protein and a salad.
"Hard work will get you through, which is why I never considered having surgery," she said. "You don't learn anything about yourself from that. It's getting harder being so close to the end of my challenge, but I wanted to prove to myself I didn't need junk food and I have done that."
