It is a common problem that we all have to deal with. Faced with the pressures of meeting the needs of her family, and delivering at work every day meant that Leanda's health, and her body, were last on her list of priorities.
“Before I took control of my life I had been unhappy with my weight and the way I looked and felt for most of my adult life,” she explains. “I managed to lose some weight over the years, but because I lost the weight by dieting, and not by changing my lifestyle, I would gain the weight back as soon as I went back to my old eating habits. However, after years of this yo-yo diet approach, I finally decided that I no longer wanted to look like the stereotypical middle-aged mother of two. I wanted to be a healthy, fit, hot mommy.”
Thinking back, Leanda realises how easy it was to fall into the emotional spiral that so many women find themselves in. “While I felt very self-conscious about the way I looked, I would tell myself that it wasn’t so bad. Only now, looking back at how I looked then, do I realise how overweight I actually was.”
It therefore took a great deal of introspection for Leanda to get to the point where she was willing to make a meaningful, and sustainable, change to her lifestyle. “It was only when I acknowledged and accepted how unhappy I was with the way I looked and felt, and how overweight I was, that I was able to start down the road to transformation. I desperately wanted to feel good about myself again.”
Thankfully Leanda wasn't alone in her desire to change her life, which gave her the extra impetus to follow through on her convictions to transform her life and her physique. “My husband, my sister and I challenged each other to lose our unwanted weight, so it was game on!”
For guidance and a transformation roadmap Leanda bought the summer edition of Fitness magazine's inaugural Fatloss magazine, which had Irma Visagie on the cover. “I said to myself: If she can do this with four kids, then I can do it with two!”
She then went through the humiliating, but necessary, process of taking before pictures, weighing herself and taking her measurements – the all-important starting points for a meaningful and effective transformation.
“No one ever really wants to take a before picture, but it is often the only way to stop the denial and face up to just how overweight or out of shape you really are. It is also incredibly rewarding to see just how far you have come when you look back at your before photos and measurements once you've reached your goal,” explains Leanda.
Armed with a burning desire to change, a healthy eating plan and a workout, Leanda set off on her transformation journey. “I started following a high-protein, limited starch and low-fat eating plan. I cut out all refined foods, sugar and unhealthy fats, and started preparing healthy, nutritious, balanced meals, without the unnecessary trimmings and sauces. I learnt to understand the calorie values of the foods I ate. This made me realise the value of eating a healthy meal of veggies and chicken, which left me feeling full and satisfied, rather than a few bites of something unhealthy that had three times as many calories, yet left me feeling hungry, craving yet more sugar.”
To compliment her new way of eating Leanda began exercising with weights at least three times a week for 45 minutes. “As a working mom the only time, and energy, I have to exercise is during my lunch hour. I therefore drive to the gym, put on gym clothes, exercise, shower and drive back to work all within an hour. This was one of the biggest revelations for me, as I had no other option but to squeeze some form of training in during my busy day. I therefore realised that where there's a will, there's a way!”
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