REAL-LIFE
Confident Kate said her
120kg, size-22 frame never
bothered her until it began
making her long shifts at work
unbearable due to the crippling
pain she would be in after
standing all day. With her
health at stake, Kate started
dramatically cutting her calories
and began a gruelling exercise
regimen that saw her lose 40kg
in just seven months and an
extra 15kg over the next year.
“I’ve always loved food but
became lazy about making
healthy choices,” Kate reveals.
“As a result of eating more junk
food than I should have, I kept
getting bigger.”
Although she was slimming
down, Kate explains that her
fixation not only on losing
weight but then on maintaining
a small physique impacted everyfacet of her life.
Instead of being a
positive experience,
the young woman
said she became
fanatical about
everything.
Kate said her obsession
also meant she avoided doing
fun things like going out to
restaurants, parties and events
because she was worried about
what she would eat. “My first
thought each morning, before
anything else, was to jump on
the scales,” Kate recalls.
“If I didn’t lose weight or
had put on even a few grams,
it affected my mood for the
entire day. I’d train at the
gym for around three hours
every day, and spent my
weekends organising a
low-calorie meal prep.“I spent lots of time on
social media looking at fit
models, constantly comparing
my body to theirs and feeling
bad about myself.
“Diet culture controlled
my life, and I didn’t spend
much time with my family,
friends or partner.”
Kate said she realised enoughwas enough after she became
trapped in a vicious binge-eating
cycle due to her heavy calorie
restriction. In a bid to curb her
unhealthy habits, she decided to
stop counting calories and
weighing herself in July 2017.
“I restricted myself so much,
eventually I’d give in and binge
eat whatever I wanted,” Kate
explains. “This not only made
me feel incredibly full and
sick, but I was overwhelmed
with guilt.
“I knew I needed help, so
I started reading more about
toxic diet culture and then
realised how trapped I was.
“I decided to stop weighing
myself and tried not to focus on
how my body looked, but rather
what I was feeling.”
Kate still ate healthy food andtrained at the gym, but says
“now it’s because I actually
really enjoy it and I’m not
punishing myself.”
Over time, as Kate focused
less on dieting and more on
enjoying life, she regained
some of the weight she had
initially lost. But instead offeeling depressed about it, Kate,
who is a body-positive advocate,
says she feels better now than
ever before and has no plans to
go back to her skinny self.
While she no longer weighs
herself, Kate has gone from a
size 10 to a 16.
“It was really hard to unlearn
my toxic behaviours, and it took
me months to really accept my
body. But now I love myself and
feel more confident than I ever
have been before.
“Life is so much better and
I have more time for my loved
ones, which should never come
in second to weight loss.
“No-one will look the
same forever, so live for the
moment and love yourself no
matter what.”
By Jasmine Kazlauskas“I DECIDED TO STOP WEIGHING
MYSELF AND TRIED NOT TO FOCUS
ON HOW MY BODY LOOKED”
Kate and her
husband, Nick,
on their wedding
day in 2017.KATE JONES, 28,
SAID GOODBYE
TO HER SKINNY
SELF AND HASN’T
LOOKED BACK
I’M BIGGER!
A happy
size 16
in 2019.65kg and
size 10
in 2014.HAPPIER NOW
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