At this point, Dee, who is 43 years old, lost 85 pounds following some unfortunate events that led her to go on a diet plan and do walking exercises to lose weight. Fat is hereditary in my family; however, no one informed me about its effects on my health or how to eat better. By the age of thirteen (13), I was already donning adult-sized pants in medium sizes.”
Other girls my age who were dating guys made me wonder why no one cared about me. I belong to a Turkish family that had an attitude of “Nobody will marry you if you are fat”. I kept a less diet to shed some weight though it is now something that I would never recommend to anyone and I did end up losing some pounds.
Dee before and after her weight loss
When one compares her before and after images, it is quite clear that there has been a great transformation in her body shape due to the decrease in some body mass index (BMI). Dee’s weight loss journey is very impressive.
In the beginning stages of her journey, Dee had great difficulty in doing daily tasks, constantly felt fatigue and suffered from ailments such as hypertension and prediabetes. Self-esteem issues plagued her emotionally making it hard for her to attend social gatherings. However, ambition drove Dee to alter her eating habits towards the better by including more fruits, vegetables and whole grains into them.
Regular workouts were also incorporated into her life including light walks at first that promenaded through various places eventually increasing speed after period further along. The transformation of Dee after losing weight is amazing.
Besides temporarily losing all his extra pounds, he was able to lighten up the knee problems and normalize their blood circulation volume which had seemed impossible at some point of time during their lives. She was able to have much more energy to do many things that used to bore her completely. Mood-wise, this person became triumphant leading to high spirits, openness to new people and events”.
This success illustrates commitment through dedication as well as healthy living ultimately being successful in achieving an objective known for being unattainable by anyone else in the past decade or so.
From a Size 14 to Unstoppable Weight Gain: My Rollercoaster Journey Through Marriage, Motherhood, and Stress Eating
When I got married at the age of 21 to my spouse Eyup, I had reduced down to a size fourteen. As soon as I was married, all I thought about was filling my stomach with various foods. Later on in 2006 when my first born was born; all hell broke loose on the dietary front hence gaining extra pounds. Losing the baby weight was impossible for me. Nowdays I am aware that my child had unique demand infants but earliest time was really hard to comprehend and thus greatly stressful moments were there.
The situation worsened when I resigned from my job as an insurance broker in 2011. It felt like a prison without escape; not knowing what was wrong with him made everything even worse since no one seemed to understand his condition especially since there were no relatives around where we lived. Foods became some sort of comfort zone for me.
At this time, there were no weighing scales in my possession and hence virtually making it impossible for me to determine how much I weighed while simply wearing anything that could fit me well enough.
How One Mom’s Snack-Only Diet Led to a Shocking Diabetes Diagnosis
In 2011, I became pregnant again and had put on weight criminally because I had not lost the baby fat from my last pregnancy which resulted in doctors diagnosing me with borderline diabetes when I was pregnant.
From 2011 to 2019, my weight kept on going up. At my heaviest, I weighed 17 stones. I hardly ate proper meals; only snacks and frozen foods and they were not regarded as real foods by me at all. Just ate once per day in my thoughts. There was so much deficiency of energy that standing up to cook for my kids became impossible.
How a Trip to Cyprus and Someone I Didn’t Know Changed Everything About Me
At some point looking at oneself in the mirror became very challenging for me personally. I would always change during darkness hence never saw myself in bright daylight because i felt revolting about who I was but had no idea what to do with this situation either way. I just kept hoping things would change even though deep down this stagnation was killing me slowly and silently still not knowing how actually doing anything other than pretending like everything was okay while perfectly aware that never better days were coming up ahead unless some drastic steps are taken forthwith.
Then in 2019 I went alone on a holiday to Cyprus. Coming back, I was stuck in a middle seat. I’m just 4ft 11in and, at 17st, I ‘overflowed’. This man came and sat next to me; he was quite skinny and I was overflowing onto his seat, so he felt squished. He told the air hostess, “I don’t want to sit with a fat person invading my personal space.
From Shame to Slim: How I Lost a Stone in 6 Weeks Without Starving
I want to be moved.” Everyone witnessed that moment. It was shameful. For that reason I never wished to experience it again; hence something had to be done.
Upon my return home, I started exploring ways of losing weight. Unfortunately, walking was not an option as even 100 meters was difficult. All I needed was someone who would teach me how to eat properly, so I thought about Slimming World. Because one could still have a certain amount of pasta, rice or potato, it seemed easier, thus online registration was made.
I was preparing food from the ground up and as a result, I was full so I did not munch often. I ate three or four meals, and there was never a time when I felt famished. After six weeks, I lost about a stone in weight and wanted to introduce some exercises into my routine.
From Zero Workouts to 10k Steps Daily: How I Transformed My Life and Lost Six Stone
The weight melted away very fast thus; all that went through my mind was how to retain it. I checked if there were any exercise clubs nearby, but everything was high-energy all along, then I could not jump. So I began with walking. To know how much walking one does per day; got myself a fitness watch; mine said 1300 steps every single day on average which meant each day slowly improved this number.
I set small goals initially like reaching half a mile down the end of my street before adding more as it became easier for me. Within six months, I had gone from zero workouts to 10k steps daily, and it seemed effortless.
I never lost motivation or desired to return to crisps, chocolate and no exercise because, without wanting to sound cheesy, I simply felt alive. For the first time, I felt the energy. I was looking at myself in this body shape and losing weight at the same time.
In the first six months I lost six stone but after that my weight plateaued a bit. In June 2021 when I was 9.5st, I began running with NHS couch to 5k app which took me nine weeks to finish 5km run. Once all Covid restrictions were lifted in April 2022, I came across an advert for a Ramblers Wellbeing Walk.
Originally, I only wanted to join as a member because I was lonely, needed friends and someone to walk with. While my husband and children supported me, they never walked alongside me.
How I Transformed My Life: From Struggling to Thriving as a Ramblers Walk Leader – Inspiring Stories and Personal Triumphs
As of this point, I weigh the desired weight of 8.5st. Regarding my state of health, I only needed a fellow breakthrough which to form friendships. Since there were no walk leaders for the Ramblers Wellbeing Walk, I raised my hand to become one.
Originally, the whole idea was to create a safe space for people to come to, and hopefully encourage people like the old me to take up walking as exercise, because it’s so underrated. And you can do it with friends or alone if that’s what you choose. The walk community is my family.
There’s one lady who is a little bit overweight and she finds it a struggle to motivate herself in the morning. I can relate to that. So now I do a one-to-one walk with her. Looking back, I was but a specter. I lived on autopilot but wasn’t really living at all; merely playing wife and mother roles.
Transforming my body from one that was gasping for air to one that can run a marathon has been nothing short of amazing
Three pillows were my sleeping buddies for I could not get any air. Now I sleep well and breathe well. I don’t feel fatigued at all anymore. In May, I walked a distance of 33km and will go to Wales next year to walk 50km. I can also run for a distance of up to half marathon distance.
When we used to go on vacation, I never left the hotel room. It was just my spouse who took care of the children since all the other things required much effort from my side. The only thing that is going back is my original weight.
Today in my mind I think that if want to go out, I leave the car behind for places within reach and wherever else I move by foot. Previously, I could not have thought of doing sports but now it’s done automatically.
Hi, My name is Helena and I’m a founder of HealtHowdy.com. Over the years I’ve helped hundreds of people to live a healthy and fit life. Nowadays, Fitness is everything, if you want to Look Attractive and Get Updated, you can Join Me. WhatsApp
