‘WE SHED 113 KILOS!’
Looking at the photograph, Jo Lloyd’s heart sank. She was standing next to her slender husband, Tim, on the day of her cousin’s wedding, squeezed uncomfortably into a floorlength purple dress. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but that snap filled 97.8kg Jo, then a size 18-20, with overwhelming shame.
“The dress was so tight.
I felt very unattractive and self-conscious. I felt terrible for not looking after myself.”
Jo had struggled with her weight her entire life. Growing up, her parents owned a milk bar so sugary treats were available on tap. Even as an adult, Jo constantly had a packet of something sweet on the go. As the years went by, Jo’s unhealthy habits were exacerbated by heartache.
Though she was blessed with two healthy children, Harrison, 6, and Jacob, 5, Jo had been left shattered by two miscarriages, and the tragic loss of Jacob’s twin sister, Victoria, in utero.
“I was 29 weeks when we found out she had passed away,” Jo says quietly. “It took a while to deal with that. I didn’t look after myself too well.”
Trying to get through the daily grind in the midst of her grief, Jo would forgo breakfast and lunch, instead constantly grazing on unhealthy snacks such as muffins, cookies, crackers and lollies.
Dinner would be a highly processed convenience meal from the supermarket, such as a chicken kiev and vegetables.
With no thought for self-care, Jo put on a lot of weight. However, that photograph was a light-bulb moment for the devoted mum who realised she had to overhaul her health for the sake of her surviving children.
“I needed to look after myself and get better to look after my two boys.”
Having previously been unsuccessful in a quest to get healthy, Jo signed up to the weight-loss program, The Healthy Mummy, when Jacob was 13 months old.
“All the transformations I saw on the Facebook page were amazing,” she says.
Jo knew that forging change wouldn’t be easy, but she had a secret weapon – her husband, Tim! Before the pair met in 2011, Tim had transformed his physique, slimming from 164kg to 92.5kg over a period of just 10 months.
Initially Tim considered weight-loss surgery. But he eventually decided to try doing it the old-fashioned way first.
“I cut out carbs, alcohol and all the good stuff and lost 13kg in the first month. I lost 45kg in the first four months and thought, ‘Who needs a lap band?!’ Within 10 months
I’d lost 71.5kg.”
With Tim’s unwavering support, Jo was determined to make her family proud. Her Healthy Mummy journey began with a three-day cleanse.
Incredibly, even though she was eating more than she normally would have, Jo lost 3.8kg. “I was like, ‘Wow, this actually works and I’m eating more’.”
The biggest challenge for Jo was cooking. She had to make all her meals – even her snacks – from scratch. It was a whole new way of eating.
But she soon found ways to make things work, and Tim was always willing to lend a hand.
“I’d chop up the vegetables and things for dinner when the boys were having their sleeps during the day, so at night it was just a quick throwtogether.
“If Tim was home when
I was prepping, he’d ask what he could do to help.”
Instead of skipping meals, Jo started the day with a smoothie. She’d have a wrap for lunch and Mexican lasagne for dinner.
“Tim helped by embracing our whole new way of eating. He would eat whatever I made and tried foods he’d never eaten before like lentils, chickpeas and different spices,” Jo says.
“TIM’S SUPPORT WAS A HUGE MOTIVATOR. HE HELPED ME BELIEVE I COULD DO IT”
“Knowing I had Tim’s support was a huge motivator. He helped me believe I could do it and told me how good I looked.”
Within 12 months, Jo had lost 41kg. Today, she is 56.5kg and a size 6-8. She lost so much weight that in 2018 Jo had surgery to have excess skin removed and a breast augmentation.
“At 42 I’m feeling younger and fitter than ever. I’m so much happier. I’ve gone from feeling really low in self-confidence to all of a sudden, having it. I’ve even worn a bikini!”