Unfortunately I was never blessed with the skinny gene (if that’s even a real thing), heck up until last year all my jeans were skinny jeans regardless of the style. I know my fellow thick thigh women can relate to trying on a pair of jeans with rips and the bulges of thigh trying to escape results in you looking like a tied up leg of Virginia ham!

Ever since I posted my old head shots, you know the ones that looked like I had run them through some warping filter but I actually hadn’t… Yup, no wide lenses was used… Just (not so) little old me… I have been asked so many times what my ‘secret’ to losing all the weight is and what the trick was.

So here it is, my last baby is turning 4 next month so by in no means was this journey fast or easy. I’ll begin at the start and feel free to skim parts. Also, I must mention I will only be talking about the things I feel worked or benefitted me. I won’t mention the things that failed, but boy were there a few doozies.

February of 2017 I began Hypoxi and two times a week for 3 months I went to my local as well as beginning to cut out sugar. This was the moment I said good bye to sugar in my coffee. Let’s be honest, Hypoxi isn’t cheap but I did see amazing results without even having to sweat so I do recommend it. Also when you are paying so much you are less likely to binge as it would be an extreme waste of money.

Alongside Hypoxi, I was visiting an exercise physiologist which I think gave me my first physical kick up the butt. I loved loved loved being active again. I struggled with gyms before this as I lacked motivation to go and there was no one pushing me. With Lifestyle Breakthrough, you make an appointment, so you are held accountable for being there, just like a doctor’s appointment. Now for those wondering what an exercise physiologist is, in language you’ll understand it is like a PT that also had medical training. They measured my body, we spoke about my health and she tailored exercises to suit my needs. Every session was different which is great as I get bored easily. A month after starting it I had a few fellow new mums join me to work on their own fitness and pelvic floor.

A few months later was my family holiday to Greece and I was happy to have lost 51cms in total off various parts of my body. Not much in the way of kgs but you could definitely see a difference in my size. My goal was to get back into my size 10 jeans but I didn’t hit it. You can read my journey via the links below and see some before and after pics.

Beginning http://www.thesubtlemummy.com/2017/02/22/hypoxi-journey/

Update http://www.thesubtlemummy.com/2017/04/09/hypoxi-journey-update/

Final thoughts http://www.thesubtlemummy.com/2017/06/02/hypoxi-final-thoughts/

After the holiday I just joined my local gym. I loved the classes and I was motivated. This is going to sound silly but after my holiday I felt beautiful. I had gotten a good tan, new clothes and Greek women motivate anyone to do their hair and makeup and look good all the time. So I was looking good and people were noticing. I was great receiving that attention and it motivated me to keep going. I loved doing classes, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Yoga, Zumba, you name it. I got to 78kilos and I was feeling strong and fit.

Fast forward to mid-2018 and I was approached by the beautiful Maria Akritidis http://akritidisconsulting.gettimely.com/ , who I had already known a while and who claims I helped kick start her career by simply sharing one of her wins in a live feed one night as she won Cambridge Slimmer of the Year. She mentioned that I’m beautiful but if I ever wanted to “straighten my crown” she would love me to try Cambridge for free as her pay it forward to me. I had just booked my mumcation to Thailand which was in 3 months so I thought, WHY NOT? I had nothing to lose (well actually I did, I wanted to lose 10kg’s). I had been following her for a while and had seen her slimmers amazing results and I really wanted my own results.

My goal was 10kg’s and size 10 jeans. I lost 5kgs and a whole bunch of cm’s, so not completely hitting my goals but I got into those size 10 jeans!! Woooooooo. I was also still working out a couple of times a week but, my downfall… The events I get invited to. The lifestyle I have now means I have events, sometimes more than one a week, and at these events we get food, wine, desserts, popcorn etc. I have absolutely no will power when it comes to these things. If I had been vigilant for 4 months straight, no cheating, I would have tripled my loss. I continued doing Cambridge on and off for a year but I had plateaued, I was stuck at 73kg’s (which I still am). Meanwhile a lady who I work with who started Cambridge after seeing my results (along with a few ladies who follow me) were smashing it losing 15kgs, 20kgs etc. I was jealous, but they were dedicated and I was not (wine and Kingston biscuits are my kryptonite).

Fast forward to this year. I had booked my Greece and Croatia holiday, the one I just got back from (are you sensing a trend?), and I had been invited to attend the opening of 7^th Ave fitness in Glen Iris. I always hated Pilates and I am very stubborn in my opinions, I hate thinking about breathing while I work out and end up holding my breath but I was curious about Reformer Pilates, those beds look cool! Anyway, I went and gave it a go and wow, I actually love it and now it’s the only exercise I do. I don’t even mind the pain I’m in as I wobble down their staircase at the end of every session.

The studio is so cool and even though I still need to consider my breathing I find the work outs so fun with all the different combinations we do. Each instructor is also so different which I love and I am completely hooked. I love going there and again because you need to book your spot I am held accountable and I go.

About 1 month before my trip I gave away my last lot of Cambridge meals to a follower of mine who I know was doing it and I made a decision. I needed a mental health break from dieting (not exercise). I quit dieting. I was fully prepared for the repercussions but I was genuinely becoming upset about food. My relationship with food was becoming unhealthy. I constantly craved something “bad” and it was consuming me. I was cranky and just wanted a burger. So I did it. I quit.

On the holiday I noticed that even though I had “quit dieting”, the education I gained from my visits with Maria and the exercise physiologist meant I was making healthier decisions anyway. I ate the kebap at Thanasis without the pita bread and I only had a few of my fries that came with meals not caring about wasting them. Makes me wonder if “not wanting to waste” was an excuse I kept making so I could over eat. Removing this pressure I had put on myself of “I can’t eat this and I can’t eat that” had stressed me out big time!

On that topic, a friend actually blew my mind with this fun fact. Stress increases a serum in your brain which causes you to store fat. Now that was enough for me but I’m sure Dr. Susan is going to have an issue with this so I googled like mad and found it’s called Leptin. Basically no wonder I wasn’t losing any more weight when I was stressing about every meal so much.

So now I’ve let go of those last few kilos I was so obsessed with. If they fall of great, but if they don’t then I don’t care. I’m happy I got to the size I wanted in clothes and 73kilos on me and 73kilos on someone else can look so completely different. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be in the 60’s again and maybe I am curvy but as long as I’m HAPPY when I look in the mirror and I’m STRONG and HEALTHY, then that’s all that matters.

So I’m sorry for the anticlimactic ending, there was no secret recipe, just BE HAPPY. Laugh every day and throw away the scales…. Actually keep them in the closet so you can weigh your luggage before your next holiday. Life is too short.

Thanks for reading. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think. – Zoe xoxo