‘ 66KG DOWN AND I GAVE BIRTH TO A HEALTHY BABY GIRL’
AND I GAVE BIRTH TO A HEALTHY BABY GIRL
Kirsten Fernandes kicked diabetes to the curb when she changed to a low-carb lifestyle
Choosing to follow a low-carb lifestyle was life-changing for Kirsten Fernandes. In just over a year, she lost an impressive 66kg, got her diabetes under control without the help of meds and, just before turning 41, gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
Kirsten Fernandes battled with her weight since her late teens but it was when her father, who passed away earlier this year, went into renal failure in 2013 that the gravity of her situation hit home. ‘Like me, he was diabetic,’ Kirsten says. ‘When I went to see him in ICU, he said to me: “If you don’t do something about your weight, you’re going to land up here, like me, and probably a whole lot sooner.” That was a watershed moment for me.’
Up until then, Kirsten had tried almost everything to shift the weight: from egg diets to juice cleanses to Weight Watchers and Weigh-Less, nothing seemed to work. In 2014, weighing 158kg, she decided to give Banting a go. ‘I watched a colleague in our office over the period of a year,’ she recalls. ‘I was curious as to how he was managing to lose weight while eating all sorts of yummy things – turns out he was eating low-carb and being advised by Peter Hill, a research associate of Tim Noakes.’
She started seeing results almost instantly. ‘Even when I was so strict with other diets, the most I would lose in a week was 1kg, often less,’ Kirsten says. ‘With almost 70kg to lose, I thought I’d be on a diet until the day I died! Yet by taking a lowcarb approach, I dropped almost 7kg in the first 10 days – and I’ve never looked back.’
Three months in, Kirsten had dropped more than 40kg and was down to 116kg, which left many
IN 2014, WEIGHING 158KG, KIRSTEN DECIDED TO GIVE BANTING A GO
stunned. ‘“Your face is thinner,” they would say. By December 2014, people I hadn’t seen for a year did a double-take. Now everyone knows I don’t eat sugar or any kind of processed carb. In fact, several family members and friends also follow the lifestyle – and they’ve lost weight too!’
Kirsten fell pregnant in 2016 and stuck to her low-carb lifestyle throughout her pregnancy with the approval and support of her gynae. Based on her age, she was warned that her baby’s risk of Down syndrome was 1 in 60, but once doctors had considered other factors, like her general health, the risk dropped to 0.07%. ‘Eating low-carb during my pregnancy gave me control over the amount of weight I gained and helped me avoid gestational diabetes,’ says Kirsten.
During her pregnancy her weight increased slightly, but within six weeks of giving birth to a healthy baby, she was back to her pre-pregnancy weight. ‘My daughter was born in May 2016, a few weeks before my 41st birthday,’ Kirsten says. ‘If it wasn’t for Banting, I would have remained dramatically overweight. And 70kg-plus is the world’s best contraceptive – that’s why I always say Tim Noakes got me pregnant,’ she jokes.
Her daughter Caitlin, now 3, eats what Kirsten eats, which is mostly whole and non-processed foods. Although she allows for treats, Kirsten keeps track of what and how much Caitlin consumes. ‘I limit certain things and have banned others like fizzy drinks. Fruit juice is allowed, but always diluted and only in small quantities. Caitlin drinks lots of water, rooibos tea and full-cream milk,’ she adds. ‘There are also lots of no-sugar-added treats, and she loves sweet potato.’
Kirsten admits to having been addicted to food before Banting. ‘I was a couch potato. I ate so badly: litres of Coke, piles of chocolate and cake, sandwiches, bread, pasta, rice… I ate anything and everything – in alarming quantities,’ she says.
‘When I tried to diet, it never lasted beyond a few days. Food addiction is real. And like someone addicted to alcohol or drugs, I was always ready for my next fix. Sadly, society also condemns and judges those who battle food addiction. Being the “fatty” is a very lonely place.’
As a former type 2 diabetic, eating low-carb helped Kirsten to reduce and eventually stop her medication. She now controls her blood sugar by diet alone. ‘My HbA1C [a haemoglobin test that measures your average level of blood sugar] averages 5.4 – compared to the days of 13 or 14 and being threatened with insulin by my GP. My cholesterol ratio is perfect and my blood pressure is a bit on the low side,’ she says.
Kirsten discovered that cutting sugar out of her diet and eating good quality food was the best thing she could have done for herself. ‘Before going low-carb I spent every day eating. It was an obsession. Eating real, whole food is not a sacrifice – there are loads of delicious options. I’ve followed this way of eating for almost seven years. It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle!’
Kirsten is now stronger and leaner and her health is the best it’s ever been. ‘In 2015, for the first time in 14 years, my weight could be recorded in double, not triple, digits,’ she says. ‘I can finally look in the mirror and say, “I am fabulous” – and believe it!’
Her advice? ‘Eat fat, get thin. It’s that simple.’