From 92kg to 68kg, Ros O’Keefe has lost almost a third of her body weight shedding a massive 24kg. The office administrator from Victoria attributes much of her success to support – from family and from The Biggest Loser Club – and to the occasional treat! Today, she’s loving her newfound self-confidence.
The story begins four years ago when, at the young age of 42, Ros was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, she weighed 106kg. After treatment, Ros was still unhappy with her weight and joined The Biggest Loser Club at a starting weight of 92kg. Why choose that particular time though? “I just didn’t feel happy being overweight and I really think that life is too short not to be happy; being a healthy weight makes me happy,” she says.
The Club and its features worked for Ros, and one of her favourites was the online diary. She says, “The diary made it easy for me to keep a tally of the number of calories I was eating in the day, which made it easy to stay on track and was a bit of an eye opener at times, too.”
The flexibility of the plan was another hit with Ros; she says, “The recipes were yummy and there was lots of variety. And, once in a while, if I felt like a biscuit with my cup of tea or a piece of chocolate, I would have it. But, I was always careful and I made sure it was only an occasional thing and never excessive.”
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Ros before
Ros after
Ros also enjoyed hearing the messages of encouragement from the former contestants of The Biggest Loser and seeing those awful ‘blobs’ of fat and knowing they were going from her body with every kilo she shed.
Since joining The Biggest Loser Club, Ros has lost 24kg and has surpassed her 'happy' weight (which was 70kg); she now weighs 68kg. She intends to maintain her weight by eating healthily and keeping a close eye on portion sizes.
Ros says, “I also believe exercise is a big part of keeping the weight off; I now jog 3km every day and do 15-20 minutes of weights. My son used to ride his bike with me when I first started out with my walking. Now, I have progressed to running and my husband joins in with the weights session. The next thing I want to achieve for myself, other than maybe losing a couple more kilos or so, is to enter a fun run – and finish it!”
For Ros it’s all about how she feels now. She says, “The best thing about my recent success is that I feel fantastic. I am much healthier and I haven't been sick (caught the flu or had any nasty viruses) for ages. I don’t feel self-conscious about the way I look when I go out anymore and I can wear nice clothes. Another bonus is that I can now buy straight off the rack; my husband wouldn't agree, though, he says I spend too much money on new clothes!”