‘I lost 93kg and met the love of my life’
Rikky-leigh dumped her insensitive ex and found happiness, health and love
Rikky-leigh Johnson was used to her partner’s comments about her 179kg weight and her size 26 clothes. But the more he made unkind remarks, the more she ate to make herself feel better.
“I felt like I was being fatshamed and made to feel bad about my weight,” Rikky-leigh tells Woman’s Day. “Then I would binge on chocolates, chips, lollies and anything deep-fried. Eating all that food was a way for me to deal with my low self-esteem.”
But in March 2017, something inside her snapped, and she told him to leave. “It finally got to a point where I decided I couldn’t let him ruin my whole life,” she says. “Making the decision to leave him was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
TIME TO CHANGE
The 25-year-old mum-of-three from Brisbane decided it was time to turn her life around and get into shape. She completely overhauled her diet, swapping sugar-loaded and deep-fried binges that included chocolate, lollies, chips, chocolate, ice-cream and milkshakes for healthy high-protein and vegie-packed meals such as avocado on toast, boiled eggs, chicken, steamed vegies and yoghurt.
Snacks are now muesli bars or crackers instead of deepfried dim sims or hot chips. She also joined a gym and began working with a personal trainer to help get into shape and slim down.
In less than a year, the inspirational mum had dropped a whopping 93kg and was feeling stronger, both physically and mentally, than ever before.
“Once I turned my diet around and started working out, I was feeling so much better,” she says. “I hated being overweight. There was constant judgement from strangers, I was always sweating and never fit into any nice clothes,” she recalls. “The worst thing was not being able to run around with my kids.”
Three years on, Rikky-leigh is completely unrecognisable. She’s gone down six dress sizes, she has more energy and is feeling happier in herself than she’s ever done, which she attributes to knowing she stuck with her new routine, even when it was tough.
“I busted my guts to get where I am and I’m so proud of myself,” she says. “There were no magic tricks, just hard work and natural weight loss.”
NEW LOVE
She’s also found love again, with fiance Brandon Cartner, 27. The pair met in April 2018 and fell in love straight away, with “loving and kind” Brandon popping the question just a month later.
They are set to marry next year, with Rikky-leigh’s kids Libby, six, Ryder, four, and Skylah, 14 months, by her side. Rikky-leigh will be wearing a size 12 wedding dress.
“I’d never have been able to lose the weight if I’d stayed with my ex,” she says.
“Three years on I’ve lost more than half my body weight, met the man of my dreams and feel happier than ever before.
“My life is so much better now. I will never allow anyone to treat me the way he did, nor will I ever neglect my body the way I did back then. If I can lose weight and change my life, anyone can. I am so excited for the future.”
‘The worst thing was I couldn’t run around with my kids’