Donnae: My journey to a lifestyle of health.
I am excited to share a personal achievement that has made a significant impact on my life. This year, for the first time in many years, I bought MULTIPLE pairs of jeans! This may seem like a small thing, but it represents a much larger journey of transformation and empowerment.
Facts and Figures
Height: 1.56m
Start weight: 66.3kg
Current Weight: 53.6kg
Weight Lost: 12.7kg
Goal weight: 55kg
I never struggled with my weight before turning thirty, and the weight gain came as a shock. Both my mom and sister achieved incredible results with Weigh-Less but I believed Weigh-Less wasn’t for me because I wouldn’t do anything I believed was " carb-heavy."
This journey began with the unwavering encouragement and support of my Group Leader, Chez. During my first meeting I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Weigh-Less offers a wide range of formulas and eating plans aimed at different eating preferences. I started off on the Carb Control plan, but after feeling like I was lacking energy, and struggling to consume the required number of fats, I moved to the Basic plan with more carbohydrate serves. As my journey progressed, my dietary requirements changed, and my Group Leader suggested I move back to the Carb Control plan once again. We found that this formula suited me best, and it has been on this formula that I have lost most of the unnecessary weight I was carrying.
I feel empowered to make the best choices of food to fuel my body.
Chez has made an exciting, optional addition to her accountability plan for each one of us in her group. This includes taking of measurements around the waist and hips. It's often not understood that if one has taken up exercise along with a new way of eating and begins slowly building muscle, a greater change will be reflected in one's measurements than by one's mass on the scale. This is not to say that there won't be scale changes, but even small scale changes can come with much larger measurement changes. I wholeheartedly encourage others to allow themselves to be held accountable and encouraged by having their measurements taken, if possible.
Achieving the Weigh-Less Steps and these milestones has felt incredible. I feel empowered to make the best choices of food to fuel my body, focusing on nutrition that supports my health and well-being. It’s more than just a diet or a quick fix; it’s about adopting a lifestyle that honours who I am and who I want to be.
Getting back to the size I know I am meant to has been an amazing experience.
With Chez’ guidance, I have successfully lost almost 13 kilograms, 15 centimetres off my waist, and 10 centimetres off my hips. To give a tangible sense of what this weight loss looks like, I like to (theoretically) whip out my thirteen one-kilogram yogurt tubs and explain that they represent the weight I’ve shed from my body. (I also like to laugh about how I've demolished more yoghurt than can fit in these tubs over the past six months or so). “Now, it's obviously not a size comparison, since the density of fat and water is not the same as that of yogurt,” I explain, “but if you were to try to carry around 13 kilograms of yogurt all day, you might struggle a bit.” Sometimes I get a little uncomfortable laugh, other times I get a gushing, “Congratulations! Well done! I'm so proud of you.” Well, you know what? I'm proud of me, too.
This journey has shown me that with the right mindset and support, we can achieve our goals and transform our lives in ways we never thought possible.
Getting back to the size I know I am meant to has been an amazing experience. It’s not just about fitting into a smaller size, but about feeling comfortable, confident, and healthy in my own skin. The journey has taught me the importance of perseverance, the power of support, and the impact of making mindful choices every day.
My fiancé and I are planning to marry within the next year or so and I not-so-secretly want to be able to show him a body in which I am fully comfortable and one that I have worked for. It takes work and full commitment because your life and health are on the line. The best advice I received was to set aside some time on the weekend to prepare my meals for the coming week. This might involve cooking a couple of Weigh-Less recipes, cutting up fruit and vegetables, weighing out my protein portions, and preparing my work lunch for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
I am grateful to Chez for her constant encouragement and to my support network for cheering me on every step of the way. This journey has shown me that with the right mindset and support, we can achieve our goals and transform our lives in ways we never thought possible.
Donnae’s top foodie tip
Plain, low-fat yogurt combined with a sachet of sweetener and a teaspoon of vanilla essence is absolutely delicious. Just make sure you mix it up really well because vanilla essence doesn't taste so wonderful on its own. If you are on a formula in which you have a high enough fat allocation, here’s my favourite snack: vanilla yogurt made this way, eaten together with a Ryvita or two spread with almond butter. Mmm, delicious. Seriously, don't knock it until you've tried it.