A younger nurse whose weight spiralled after giving start to her second child has shed 34kg naturally within the consolation of her dwelling – with out marathon exercise periods.
Aatikah Santos, from Sydney, tipped the scales at 100 kilos at her heaviest after she lived off an unhealthy cycle of quick meals, sugary or salty snacks and delicate drinks.
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When her daughter was born, the 24-year-old says her weight escalated after she began binging on her “responsible treats” as a result of she thought, “Nicely I simply had a child so I’m allowed to”.
However the mum-of-two – who wore sizes 18-20 clothes – knew she wanted to beat her dangerous consuming habits to get wholesome after she struggled to do easy duties like placing on a pair of sneakers.
Decided to get on high of her weight as soon as and for all, she slimmed right down to sizes 12-14 in lower than one yr after she tweaked her weight loss program and exercised in her loungeroom – even utilizing her “youngsters as weights” in her exercises.
“I’ve all the time had a nasty relationship with meals and was by no means one to train, even strolling was a job,” Aatikah tells 7Life.
Her turning level to drop some weight got here after she seen she was nowhere to be seen in a majority of household footage.
“I used to be sitting down consuming my cookies and I used to be trying by way of photographs and realised I’ve so many photographs of my husband and children however I’m not in any… as a result of I refused to have photographs taken of myself,” she recollects.
‘My well being was horrible’
“And that’s when it hit me, I used to be so self aware and in denial that I had an issue with my weight that I refused to see myself in photographs. I used to be so upset realising that I’ll by no means get the possibility to have photographs taken with my infants once more.
“It actually kicked me into gear that I want to show my life round not solely to look higher however as a result of easy duties like placing sneakers on was exhausting, my well being was horrible.”
Earlier than embarking on her physique transformation, Aatikah says her weight loss program consisted of quick meals, chips, blocks of chocolate, delicate drinks and huge parts of rice.
Throughout her second being pregnant, she placed on 10kg.
Aatikah says she gained an additional 13kg inside two months after her daughter was born.
‘I felt hungry on a regular basis’
“However I didn’t assume a lot of it as a result of… nicely I simply had a child and it’s anticipated to realize weight throughout a being pregnant,” she stated.
“I felt so hungry on a regular basis… my daughter was born in November so all the supermarkets had already stocked all of their Christmas sweets and I used to be going by way of three packets of shortbread cookies each week.
“I attempted to cease having my responsible treats however then on the finish of the week I’d simply binge on all of it.”
Her weight reduction journey began in October 2021.
“I began off sluggish and labored on my weight loss program first quite than altering all the things suddenly,” she says.
“I began consuming extra greens and fruits. I reduce out loads of carbs and gluten. As soon as my weight loss program was secure I began introducing every day exercises.”
‘Utilizing youngsters as weights’
With two younger youngsters – son, aged three, and one-year-old daughter – below her wing, the stay-at-home mum discovered an ingenious solution to get match.
“As my husband works full time as a nurse on a rotating roster it was exhausting for me to get right into a fitness center as my youngsters are younger,” she says.
“Some days I’d go to my sister-in-law’s home and use their dwelling fitness center. However majority of the time I used to be at dwelling figuring out, even utilizing my youngsters as weights by squatting with them on my again or urgent them up.
Weekly exercises at dwelling
Monday: 50 sit-ups
Tuesday: 50 squats
Wednesday: Cardio.
Thursday: Exercise arms and again
Friday: 50 squats
Saturday: Mixture of all the things
Sunday: Relaxation
Her weekly exercises modified each month and she or he would comply with alongside to health movies from YouTube in her loungeroom.
“I began going lengthy walks across the block to maintain transferring. Just about doing something I might. And the load simply began dropping off,” she says.
“Each week I used to be dropping one to 2 kilos. It took me simply over a yr to lose 34kgs.”
She now enjoys doing excessive depth cardio, which she finds “so shocking” and she or he nonetheless follows YouTube exercises she finds them “so enjoyable and you actually really feel the burn”.
Wholesome day on a plate
Breakfast: Slice of gluten free bread with scrambled eggs or smoothie
Lunch: Can of salmon or tuna with crackers
Dinner: Grilled rooster or fish with greens
Snacks: Small chocolate bar, protein cookies or dried seaweed
Regardless of main a more healthy life-style now, she nonetheless treats herself to her favorite meals, inside cause.
“I like my chocolate however I’ve all of it moderately now,” she says.
“I’ve by no means been strict while on this weight reduction journey I’ve all the time had no matter I’ve felt like however moderately.
“Self self-discipline is a should when making an attempt to drop some weight. With the ability to say I’ll have some chocolate however I’ll solely have a small quantity is what helped me.”
Trying again at previous footage, Aatikah says “it’s stunning” when she sees herself at her heaviest.
“I by no means realised simply how a lot weight I had misplaced till seeing these photographs,” she explains.
“In fact I noticed my weight drop when stepping on the scales however evaluating myself to previous photographs was insane.”
Unrealistic ‘influencer’ mums
She urges mums to distance themselves from “influencers” as she believes social media has created unrealistic magnificence requirements.
“It’s poisonous,” she says.
“I used to look at influencers posts on what they eat in a day after having a child and whereas it’s their weight loss program it made me really feel like I wasn’t doing essentially the most.
“The whole lot on social media is rarely because it appears. My largest tip is to take away all of these sorts of posts out of your feed whereas making an attempt to drop some weight. Do it at your individual tempo. Discover what works for you and keep it up.”
For these seeking to drop some weight, Aatikah says: “Simply begin.”
“You’ll by no means drop some weight when you don’t begin someplace, nobody goes to lose it for you. You must be the one to only begin someplace. Whether or not it’s introducing one exercise per week or slicing again on consuming take out.
“Lots of people are given the concept that to drop some weight you need to cease consuming their responsible pleasures like sweets or sweets but it surely’s simply not the case, nicely not for me at the very least. Consuming them moderately helps.
‘Takes time however reward is wonderful’
“My recommendation to anybody desirous to drop some weight could be to not simply bounce in anticipating all the things to be simple.
“In fact it’s going to take time however the reward of reducing weight is wonderful. I wouldn’t change something I did throughout my weight reduction journey, I did it at my very own tempo and in a approach that might make it profitable for me.“
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