Over a year ago, Tanya decided to turn her life around by auditioning for The Biggest Loser series 4. Despite not making it onto the show, she was given the chance to lose weight at home with the help of The Biggest Loser Club and the Meal Replacement program.
Tanya soon became a key member of the Second Chance team, a group of twenty people who just missed out on a place at Camp Biggest Loser. By the time Finale arrived, Tanya had shed 32.2kg, taking her weight from 129kg to 96.8kg.
Although the experience with the Second Chance team came to an end, Tanya’s personal weight-loss journey didn't stop there. Almost a year on from when she started, she is nearly at her goal weight and fitter than ever. Here, we catch up with the non-stop weight-loss star.
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Tanya before
Tanya cycling
Tanya after
Triathlon competer
Tanya now
When Tanya first started with The Club, she admitted, “I knew that it was my time to do something for myself. At the audition for series 4, it was a huge wake-up call to see the results of my medical examination on paper. Seeing my weight and my body fat percentage made me realise that if I didn’t do something fast, everything was headed towards a bad place."
Tanya has turned things around so much that she now seems headed to a great place. She has managed to maintain her motivation and has continued following her Club program and the lessons she has learnt along the way, in order to reach her ultimate goal.
Continuing the journey
To begin with, Tanya was relying on The Biggest Loser Club Meal Replacement program, which helped kick-start her weight loss and give her the breathing space she needed to learn new food and exercise skills.
Now, Tanya says, “I wanted to slowly reintroduce healthy foods into my diet, so I now only have one Meal Replacement Shake or Bar a day, usually for breakfast.” Tanya then has some fruit or nuts for her mid-morning snack, some lean meat and salad for lunch, a light snack in the afternoon such as jelly, lots of vegetables and protein for dinner and then she sometimes treats herself to a yoghurt or air popped pop corn later in the evening.
As well as conquering her healthy eating habit, Tanya also puts her on-going success down to the online diary. “Tracking what foods I consumed was crucial to learning about energy in and energy out,” she says. “I enjoyed seeing what I achieved on a daily basis and seeing my weight and measurements go down each week.”
Offering advice to others, Tanya puts using the diary as her top tip to success. She also reveals, “Drink plenty of water and lastly, exercise and never give up!”
While Tanya had the support of her former team members during the Second Chance Challenge, just how has she maintained her motivation? “I have kept in touch with other members of the Second Chance team and my challenge partner Conrad and I still continue to support each other over the phone,” she says. Tanya also gives credit to her nearest and dearest saying, “My family and friends have been wonderful and I honestly couldn’t have done this without their constant support and encouragement.”
Living the dream
Tanya is now worlds apart from the person she was when she first started this journey. Not only has she nearly reached her goal weight of 76kg, now weighing in at a healthy 85kg, she has also achieved things she thought she would only ever dream of.
“I have just completed my first triathlon and I am doing another one later this month,” she says. Tanya has managed to reach this level of fitness through dedicated exercise, training with her personal trainer twice a week and committing to four gym sessions. Ever motivated, she also says, “I plan to take things up a notch now as it is the New Year and I want to reach my goal weight by April.”
On top of this, Tanya has started modelling. She reveals, “A wedding dress designer saw my photo in That’s Life magazine and asked me to model for her plus-size range. It is amazing to think what I have done as I wouldn’t have had the confidence a year ago.”
Proving that her motivation and optimism shows no signs of dwindling, Tanya finishes by saying, “Nothing is going to stop me. It is all go, go, go!”