The Healthy Mummy

Weight-loss plan success

Bec Ashforth, 34

Swanbourne, WA

Mummum-ofof-five Bec knew shshe had to “pull her finger out” when she stopped weighing herself after her first baby. Jumping on the Healthy Mummy app, she shed a whopping 55kg and now weighs 45kg.

“I have five children and my two youngest were premature. I spent weeks in the hospital care nursery for each, but I still lost weight because I printed off The Healthy Mummy shopping list, so all the stress of thinking about buying healthy food was done for me,” she says.

“I also drank the shakes, so I didn’t have to leave the hospital,” she adds. “I haven’t looked back. Life is just so much better.”

Fiona Mortimer, 47 Falcon, WA

Fiona knew she had to make a change when her weight was putting so much strain on her heart she was rushed to hospital with chest pains.

“It was a shocking eye opener,” says Fiona, who used to weigh 99.8kg. “I remember my kids’ faces – that’s when I made the decision to change my life.”

Since that fateful day, Fiona has lost 27kg in eight months.

“My kids are so proud of me. We eat healthily as a family and exercise together every day,” she says. “If I hadn’t done this I could be dead. It’s as simple as that.”

Heidi Reynolds, 34 Mooroolback, Vic

Heidi openly admits that she used to hate herself. “Instead of other people putting me down, I would do it first,” says the mother-of-two.

But she’s turned the tables on her health, and after tipping the scales at 135kg, Heidi downsized 70kg in twoand-a-half years and now weighs 65kg. By ditching her penchant for pizza, she adopted a healthy lifestyle and changed her mindset. “I stopped thinking I’m an ugly person, and I went from being in a life I hated to a life I love,” she says.

Megan Carter, 39 Alfredton, Vic

Megan’s been through the unimaginable. Kicked out of home at 15, she was raped and also lost her husband (the father to two of her four children) to suicide. She admits she “gave up” and ballooned to 95kg.

The mum – who suffers from postnatal depression – says exercise and weight loss has helped her control her condition.

Megan lost 30kg and now weighs

65kg. She’s made new friends, and has an amazing man, too.

Nicole Marnell, 37 Croydon, Vic

Sseparated ffrom her husband, moving house and weighing 146kg, mother-of-three Nicole quickly realised she had hit her lowest point.

“I saw The Healthy Mummy on Facebook and started using the free recipes,” she says. “Before then I wouldn’t eat in the day, and at night I’d have a huge meal and sit in bed with a pack of Doritos.”

Immediately the weight started to drop off. Fast-forward 16 months and Nicole now weighs 86kg – meaning she lost a mammoth 60kg!

“On Sundays I plan my menu and I’ll cut up all my snacks, because if I don’t take food to work I’ll start picking.”

And the hardest part? “Night-time snacking. Now I’ll either have yoghurt or apple with peanut butter – it still feels naughty but it’s not!”

Nicole is now running a half marathon later this year, and even got back with her husband, who is her biggest supporter.

Tanja Kortsen, 46 Cockatoo, Vic

Tanja admits that it was getting her driver’s licence and then discovering the Mcdonald’s drive-through that caused her to start putting on weight. Put giving birth to her three kids in the mix and she just gave up.

“When they were in bed it was ‘my time’. That meant trashy TV and trashy food,” she admits, casting her mind back to a time when she weighed 118kg.

Seeing another mum at her school losing weight inspired Tanja to try The Healthy Mummy. “I tried the four-week challenge, following a meal plan,” she explains.

Since October 2018, Tanja has lost 40kg and is now a healthy 76kg. She’s also taken up karate and recently won three events.

Lauren Jones, 35 Tacoma, NSW

When Lauren was eight weeks pregnant with her second child she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, which causes an underactive thyroid. Weighing 72.4kg at the time, losing weight became an uphill battle.

“I was desperate. I’d tried everything from the cabbage soup diet to eating nothing to lose weight, all in vain,” she says.

Following The Healthy Mummy program, Lauren lost 18kg and is thrilled to be a size 8, 58kg happy mum.

“Now, when I go dress shopping I want to sing from the rooftops!” she says. “The only problem is I can fit into everything, so I’ve got to learn to dress my age!”