Annicellita lost 15kg

Annicellita, or "Annie" as her friends call her, grew up in a 'big' family and struggled with her weight throughout her childhood and into her adult years.  But, when she topped 124kg and started to have heart problems, Annie knew that her life was in the balance – and that it was time to act. 

Annie says,"I had a health scare last year which was what really prompted me to join The Biggest Loser Club. I was on my way to work on public transport and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. The bus had to stop and an ambulance was called  to take me to hospital – it was totally frightening and embarrassing. I ended up staying in the hospital for a couple of days while they did lots of tests. The medical staff explained that it was my weight that was causing all the symptoms I was feeling. I had already been diagnosed with hypertension (high blood pressure) and had been taking medication since 2002 plus my gall bladder had been removed earlier, too. Looking back, I had put on so much weight over the previous couple of years that I had a whole lot of heath issues. My doctor told me my weight was literally killing me. But, it was this last scare that really changed it all – I knew I had to do something about my health straight away. But what? I had tried 'everything' without much success, so I didn't have much faith that I could really lose all the excess kilos and get healthier."

In the end, Annie's motivation were her two sons, aged five and seven.  "For so long, I had forgotten about my weight and concentrated on looking after everyone else; I put the family first. But, after the incident on the bus, I realised I had to look after myself first or I wouldn’t be around to care for my two boys. I came to The Club through The Biggest Loser show. I really enjoyed watching it because I could relate to the contestants with challenges just like mine. The Club was something I knew I could do at home and at work and I knew that I would get the support I needed. I loved the website; I especially liked being able to track how many calories I had eaten in a day. There was also plenty of encouragement – whether I was having a good day or a bad one."

Annie did more exercise and learned that although she was eating the right kinds of food, she was eating too much in total. "I started to exercise and involved my boys too – I used The Club to get ideas for exercise plans and then adapted them to use at home. I did a lot of walking and squats. We have three flights of stairs at home, so rather than sending the boys for something, I'd get it myself. I also avoided using the lifts at work and used the stairs instead. Rather than catching the bus home, I started to walk from school to home with the boys."

Annie joined a 'Biggest Loser Team' at her work; staff members helped and supported one another and they lost weight together, too. "The support network at work was brilliant – it really helped me to change my lifestyle. I feel a lot more energetic now that I'm 107kg! I've gone from a size 22 (which I didn't like at all) to a size 16! I've given all my clothes away – I said 'ship them out of here; I don't want them anymore!' I'd like to weigh around 80kg; that's my realistic goal but if I go lower, then that's a bonus! I know that I will continue because I so don't want to go back to that old weight again. And it's not just my life and health that's improved, my family's has, too. My seven-year-old son was getting a little heavy, but he has lots of energy now and he enjoys eating what's on our new, tastier, healthier menu!"