Looking back, Queenslander Helen Hainsworth had been feeling down about her weight for more than a decade since the birth of her youngest child.
Helen says, “When I was a single mum living with my mum (Helen had her first baby, Michael, 19 years ago) I ate so healthily. My mum is a ‘health nut’ so we used to eat lots of chicken and salads and fish and vegetables. I hardly ever wanted to eat chocolate in those days.
“As a single mother, I didn’t drive a car (I still don’t have a licence and I don’t want one either!). So, I lost any excess weight from riding a bicycle and/or walking everywhere. When I had Joshua 11 years ago, I was 32 years of age, married to my husband, Kim, and I had stopped riding my bicycle because I had a hubby with a car!
“About two months after Joshua was born, I developed postnatal depression but at the time, I thought it was just that I was not coping. So, I tried to ‘fix’ things on my own; I didn’t seek help and that’s why it wasn’t diagnosed until two-and-a-half years later. By this time, though, it had turned into clinical depression.
“Even though I didn’t have masses of weight to lose, being heavier than I wanted to be just never felt right; I didn’t feel like I looked like myself. And, although I was depressed about it, I just couldn’t get my diet or exercise right to shift the excess kilos.
“I tried lots of ways to lose weight, though, including diet pills (I tried fat blaster Xenical tablets – they weren’t much fun believe me!). I tried not eating very much at all and exercising more (but I love food so that was never going to work!). I tried the Optislim very low calorie protein shake diet (which did work for a while, but then I put it all back on and more when I went back to ‘normal’ foods). By the end of it all, I was so confused about what to eat that I couldn’t eat properly. Nothing seemed to work long term and I actually put on more weight when I stopped the diets.
“It made me feel very low and eventually, I even started to get confused about which foods I could and should eat, and about how to make healthy choices. I used foods to comfort myself. At the time, the sorts of meals I used to eat were fat-filled, heavy on the potatoes, garlic breads and pasta. Even if we had healthy salads, we would have it with hot chips (the fish and chip shop was all too close to home!).
“Just before I started with The Biggest Loser Club, my hubby and I were getting through a family block of chocolate between us just about every night. Overeating became a vicious and ongoing cycle.”
Click to enlarge photos
Helen before
Helen after
The bikini that changed it all!
“My moment of truth was probably looking at myself in a bikini. I bought a size-12 bikini to motivate me to lose weight – and motivate myself I did! I nearly ‘died’ when I saw how fat my belly looked in that photo! It just never seemed to look as bad to me in the mirror. Even though I knew I was overweight, I thought I was ‘getting away with it’, really, as I am tall and I usually choose clothes that ‘hide’ my tummy. Summer was coming up fast and we were due to have a family holiday at the beach. I knew I had to do something or else I would spend the whole time sitting on the sand wrapped up in big T-shirts and shorts watching my Kim and young Joshua have fun in the surf. And comparing myself to the skinny bikini-clad sunbakers on the beach was going to make me feel even worse I suspected! I wanted to swim with my child and not be so self-conscious.
“So, I was pretty low when I started watching The Biggest Loser TV show which I loved. I was really inspired by real peoples’ stories. I thought, if they could lose weight with all their challenges then so could I! It was about this time that a friend who started with The Biggest Loser Club showed me the site and I thought I would check it out. What did I have to lose? Nothing but a small amount of money and a heap of fat! Thank goodness I did try it! It was cheaper than other things I was thinking about trying and I liked what I had seen on the TV show. Plus, I could see on the website that everyday people just like me had had great results.”
Getting stuck in!
“I loved the diary and forums the most; that is where I was given the most help for my own challenges. Though the menus gave me some great ideas for meals, I chose to follow my own way of eating and exercise and kept on track with calories by using the diary. The forums were full of lovely people who understood my particular problems and Clubbies were full of good answers to the questions I had; the moderators were great as well.
“My diet is pretty different now and portion sizes have shrunk along with my measurements. These days for breakfast I tend to go for Weetbix with low-fat milk, wholemeal English muffins with peanut butter, low-sugar jam or honey, scrambled eggs on toast or porridge with low-fat milk and fruit.
“For lunch I eat salad sandwiches with low-fat turkey plus all sorts of extra vegies like capsicum, mushrooms, avocado and jalapeno peppers for a little added spice. I make omelettes with heaps of vegetables in them (I have a microwave omelette maker which is fantastic!). My favourite quick, easy meal is baked beans on wholegrain toast with a slice of low-fat cheese underneath the hot beans – yummy! We use spray oil for stir-fries and only use low-fat milk and diet yoghurts. I eat at least two pieces of fruit a day if not more (a slice of rockmelon with some low-fat ice cream is my current favourite dessert!) And, for snacks I eat an apple or banana, some strawberries or yoghurt or toast with peanut butter. A sweet treat for me might be sugar-free chewing gum, sugar-free lollies, a Freddo frog or a Caramello Koala.
“Dinner is usually based on lean meat/chicken/fish and salad or vegetables. Occasionally, I have my favourite food, pasta, but now, I have it in a small bowl with a tomato-based sauce only – the creamy ones are gone – and I only have one or two pieces of garlic bread, not the four pieces I used to tuck into before! Everything in moderation is my motto!
Back on track
“In many ways, The Biggest Loser Club diary has re-taught me what foods to eat and how much of them are right for me. As I said, I used to eat healthily, but for the last 12 years or so, I had gotten off track and it was with the help of the diary that I was able to get back to my healthy ways.
“I think that is was sheer determination to not fail this time that made me so successful. I was sick and tired of feeling miserable about my weight and told myself, ‘If you don’t like it, change it!’ I also knew that if I spent the money on becoming a Club member that I had better make it work – we aren’t wealthy people and I didn’t want to waste the money. Then as I started seeing changes in my body, I was encouraged to keep going. I knew the program was working and that I could and would achieve my goals.”
Helen started her Biggest Loser Club journey weighing 78.2kg and she is now a svelte 69.3kg having lost 8.9kg so far. She says, “I started with the Club on 28 July and by the end of the 12th week (13 October) I had reached 69.3kg. I still have about 5kg to lose to reach my goal weight of 65kg. I am determined to get as close to my goal as I can.”
Helen's re-found confidence and strength
Helen is so much more confident today, and is so proud of herself again. She says, “I have felt like a failure for years but now I know I am worth something and that I am a strong person. Plus my family have a happier mum and wife again which makes them happier, too! Like everyone, I wasted years of my life feeling unhappy about how I looked in my clothes. But it truly is up to each of us to change that. With the help of The Biggest Loser Club, you can do it, so give it a try! Don’t let another day go by... you deserve to like yourself, you deserve to feel fit and healthy and look fantastic.
“I am so looking forward to our family holiday, my husband, my two children, my son’s girlfriend and my mum, Evelyn; we’ll all be together.
“Thank you to the guys at The Biggest Loser Club for all the help and support you gave me; you really help save lives!”
Helen’s top three tips
Inspired by Helen’s story? Here are her top three tips to help you on your Biggest Loser journey:
- “Know that a lapse doesn’t have to be a relapse. In other words, if you slip up in your eating or don’t exercise for a day or two, don’t let it drag on and on until a week has passed. Get back on track the next day. We all have slip ups and no-one’s life is plain sailing all of the time. So forgive yourself and just start again.
- “Do be patient; you didn’t put the weight on overnight so you won’t lose it that way either. Believe you can do it, but know that it will take time.
- “Get a taste for a healthier life. The taste of fatty foods may stay with you for while, but feeling and looking fantastic will last for a lot longer. Think about it. Is it really worth a few measly seconds of taste for a couple of kilos of fat? I don’t think so! Besides, after a few weeks your body stops craving the fat or sweet-laden foods anyway.”