‘We lost 50kg each!’
‘I didn’t want my daughter to get bullied for my size’
Whil hile many f familiesili sit down together to meals, Alison Lake admits she’d wolf down dinner before her husband Ian and daughter Emily even reached the table.
“I could demolish my meals in minutes,” Alison, 48, tells Woman’s Day. “I’d have huge, man-sized portions, but my plate was always scraped clean before anyone else had even begun.”
Over the past few years however, Alison has dropped an incredible 61kg by ditching her huge portion sizes and slowing down her eating.
“My little girl was my main motivation for changing,” says the Gold Coast mum of Emily, eight.
“I didn’t want her to get bullied because of my size or miss out because I couldn’t do things.”
A size 24, Alison’s weight was holding her back from doing the fun things other mums do with their kids, like playing in the park.
“My size made me really uncomfortable. I put on a front so no one would know, but inside I hated the way I looked.”
Then Alison’s mum developed Type 2 diabetes because of her size – “Mum lost some of her toes. It was the wake-up call I needed.”
Concerned about how her health was affecting Emily, Alison sought help from a dietitian.
“She told me to cut out my man-sized meals and swap them for protein and vegies, and to slow down my eating.”
It’s taken Alison three years, but she’s shed half her body weight.
“I can wear a size 10 now and I can’t quite believe it.
“Best of all, I can keep up with Emily. It’s an incredible feeling knowing I’m now a better mum.”
‘Now my children know anything is possible!’
As a singlemsinglelmum off six withh two jobs, Brookebr Spethman barely had a moment to herself – and her weightw was slowly creeping up as a result.
“Everyone else’selse’ needs came before minemine,” says the 41-year-old frombfrombrisbane, who became depressed.depr
“I looked at how that would influence my kids and thought, ‘I have to find me again, so I can be a better person for them.’ ”
She began bymbymaking small changes. “Initially I just ate healthily – leanmleanmeats and vegetables – and I was trying to do a 6km walk eevery day. I thought I’ll do it daily, just like brushing your teeth. It wasn’t high inteintensity but I chipped away at it.”
Brooke then heardhea about a 12-week challengechallen with a lot of prize money, whichw with six mouths to feed waswa just the motivation she neneeded. For the first time she hired a trainer, who created a daily at-at-home exercise program with kettle bells, a bike and a yoga mat, plus a rolling diet plan, to keep the kilos coming off.
She dropped 52.5kg. “My kids were the motivation, and the effect it’s had on them is amazing. They’re so proud of me, and you can see now they know anything is possible.”
‘I felt guilty because I was letting my kids down’
Jaime O’reagan, from Mackay in Queensland, had always struggled with her weight. But with two children – one with special needs – and weighing 118kg, she didn’t have the time or energy to do anything about it. “I’d done every diet – I’d lose 6kg, but then I’d gain it back,” she says. That was until early 2015, when she decided to have gastric-sleeve surgery. “A sleeve isn’t for everyone,” she says. But for Jaime, 39, it was life-altering. Ahead of the op, she had to change her food intake and follow a shake diet. Once Jaime recovered from surgery, she was ready to get active. “Before, I’d tried to hide away from fitness because I was so big I didn’t want people to stare at me. But now I love it and I can’t wait to do my exercise.” Now 62kg, Jaime says she’s enjoying her role as mum to Cyan, eight, and Harmoni, seven, more than ever. “My son is very active. We love to go jogging and he takes his scooter. Last year I even coached their hockey team.”