8 LOSE IT! VOLUME 30
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GENwas skeptical but I told him, “Let
me just give it a try”.’
Within the first six weeks
she dropped 10kg. ‘I was never
hungry, the food is delicious and
there’s such a huge variety of
options. It just stuck!’ Now, even
skeptical Julian is banting along
with his bride-to-be. ‘He started
with me in December and he’s
lost about 12kg.’
Santasha’s weight dropped
from triple figures to double
digits – she lost 34kg and now
weighs 89kg. Those impressive
numbers were tough to reach- not because of the food, but
because of well-meaning friends
and family who didn’t want her to
be so strict with herself, fearing
this was just another fad that
would leave her unfulfilled. ‘But
once they saw how serious I was
about it, everyone supported me.
I’ve never had much of a sweet
tooth, so cutting out sugar didn’t
faze me, but when people brought
out the pastas and potatoes, that
bugged me. Now I’ve become
so used to not dishing up those
foods that it doesn’t throw me any
more. People ask me, “Do you
miss carbs? Do you miss sugar?”
and I honestly don’t.’
or Santasha,
the confidence
she’s gained is
far better than
those takeaways,
especially when
she walks into a gathering of
people who haven’t seen her in
a while. Their jaws drop and
they often joke about her being
half the person she used to be. ‘I
can buy clothes anywhere now.
I cannot even tell you what a
confidence boost this is! I would
never have dreamt of getting into
a dress, and that’s basically all Iwear now. I’ve even started doing
my nails and my make-up again.
It’s crazy how weight can affect
your self-confidence.’
Before her weight loss,
Santasha held back when it came
to playing with her daughter, too.
‘We’d be with the family a lot on
weekends but I’d always be quite
shy to get up and run around with
her because I literally couldn’t do
it. Lousindie always just asked her
dad to play with her.’
Since shedding the weight,
bonding with Lousindie is easy,
Santasha says. ‘She’ll come to me
now and I’m not shy to get in
the pool with her, play with her
and run around because all these
things are possible.’ Along with
feeling lighter, LCHF has also
given Santasha renewed energy.
‘Before, I couldn’t keep my eyes
open by eight o’clock at night.
Now I still find myself up and
awake by 10pm without being
dead tired the next day.’
Santasha’s newfound confidence
has also had an impact on her
wedding plans – starting with
that dream dress.
‘When we were initially
discussing getting married, I
was looking at plus-size wedding
gowns, but they were just not
what I wanted for myself. I’m
young! I’m 24 and I was having
to look at flowy dresses that
covered my arms. Now my
whole perspective has changed,
especially with regard to how I
want to look on the day. When I
showed my dressmaker a picture
of the dress I had in mind, he
said, “This is the perfect dress for
you! You’ve got the exact body
type that you need for this dress.”
I almost burst into tears.’
Santasha will be walking down
the aisle with the man and the
dress of her dreams! QINSPIRATION
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp garlic, chopped
2 tbsp Carb Smart Peri Peri sauce
2 tbsp Carb Smart Lemon and
Herb
250g prawns, peeled, with tails
intact
sea salt and black pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup cream
lemon wedges to serve- Add the butter to a pan and
allow to melt. Add the chopped
onion, garlic and Carb Smart
sauces, then add the prawns and
fry for a few minutes. - Season to taste and stir through
the lemon juice. - Cook the prawns until the flesh
is opaque, then pour in the cream
and simmer gently until thickened. - To serve: Serve the prawns with
lemon wedges.
KEEP ON TRACK per serving
FAT 9G CARBS 6G PROTEIN 17GCREAMY PRAWNS
SERVES 2