Twenty-one-year-old Amanda Russelhuber has struggled with her weight her whole childhood. However The Biggest Loser Club gave her the knowledge and support she needed to lose weight and feel comfortable in her own skin.
Looking back to her school years, Amanda realises that she compensated for being a little heavier by adapting her personality. She explains, “I used humour so people saw me as funny, not as fat. I would be tough too so that people wouldn’t cross me or mention my weight. I altered the way I behaved to take attention away from my exterior."
It was after Amanda left school, left home and got a desk job that her weight really started to get out of control. A big part of this she puts down to living apart from the support system of her loving family and spending too much time in the pub.
Amanda remembers, “I hated myself. I could see myself just getting bigger and bigger but I thought there was nothing I could do about it. I guess I was in denial. I started buying bigger clothes and realised that I had changed. I hated that I had allowed myself to become that way – it was so weak, stupid and blind.
“I saw other girls my age and I knew I wanted to look like them too, but because I felt low I would eat to give myself an emotional boost. This of course led to more weight gain and I knew I was getting farther away from what I really wanted. It was a self-feeding, vicious circle.
“In the end, I didn’t know which direction I should take. I didn’t know how to eat healthily and lose weight.”
Click to enlarge photos
Amanda before
Amanda after losing 22kg
New beginnings
The start of Amanda’s life changes came in January 2008 when she saw herself in family Christmas photos and felt disgusted. “I looked terrible – I was embarrassed that it was me in those pictures!
“I knew that I had to do something about my weight. I wanted to feel proud of myself instead of feeling embarrassment and shame. I just wished that one day I would wake up and be thin.”
In April 2008, Amanda was in the right place emotionally to shake things up and she joined The Biggest Loser Club. She says, “I'm lucky I found The Club, otherwise I might still have been hoping to wake up thin!
“It’s been a steady weight-loss journey ever since. My willpower and determination to succeed just got stronger as the kilos kept falling off. More than ever, I wanted to succeed to win my own personal Biggest Loser award."
Discovering The Club
“I chose The Biggest Loser Club because it told me everything I had to do to lose the weight and I knew it would work because it worked for The Biggest Loser contestants.
“The menu plans were great right from the start and I knew that if I followed them exactly, there would be no way I could not lose weight. As I gained confidence I stuck to the calories The Club recommended but made my own meals.
“The online diary is my favourite feature as it shows what I have eaten and exactly when and where I had been going wrong. I have used the diary so much that now I can go shopping and not only read the labels and understand what they mean, but I can look at a plate of food and can give an educated guess as to how many calories it contains.”
Amanda’s exercise regime has also been revitalised. She says, “Before The Biggest Loser Club, I barely did any exercise because I was embarrassed. I believed that I would really stand out from the crowd and I didn’t have much motivation. After joining, I began running. I would go down to our local soccer fields when no one was around and do laps. I now run at home on my own treadmill, plus I do sit-ups and push-ups.
“If I had known a bit more about healthy eating and weight loss, perhaps I wouldn’t have been overweight in the first place. It was clear that The Biggest Loser Club was a set of instructions and if I followed it carefully, I would see good results. If I deviated from the program, I knew I would fall behind.”
Words of wisdom
Like many successful individuals, Amanda has lived through the fact that you have to be in the right frame of mind when you start a major life overhaul. She says, “You need to ask yourself if you are really ready to lose weight. If you’re not ready it doesn’t matter how many months you sign up for, it will just never happen.
“If you are ready and committed, listen to and follow all the instructions The Biggest Loser Club gives you – they are there to help you. If you think you know better than The Club, should you really be here in the first place?
“Remember that it will take time to lose weight. Think of how long it took you to gain all the weight you want to now get rid of. It stands to reason that it will take time to lose it.”
At the beginning of her weight-loss journey, Amanda weighed in at 76kg. Having lost more than a fantastic 22.3kg, she is now a super fit 53.7Kg.
“I know that I look and feel so much better. I still look at those girls I so desperately wanted to look like, but now I hold my head up high and watch them as they turn to look at me! It’s an awesome feeling! For me it really is a great mood lifter when people I haven’t seen in ages compliment me on my appearance!”