“When I was overweight, I didn’t realise that I wasn’t living, I was simply existing,” said an emotional Shantel.
She added, “I would go home from work and be so exhausted from the day that I wouldn’t want to leave the couch. Now I make it a priority to go to the gym and play outside with my son.”
A Human Resources worker by profession, Shantel remembers the time when her body weight started to increase.
It began when she broke her neck in a 2011 car crash and was left struggling to move for months afterwards. Furthermore, she got into the habit of eating unhealthy fast food for almost every meal, following the birth of her son Knox in 2014.
She said, “I never drank water and would only drink soda. I would say my weakness was anything breaded and deep fried.”
The weight gain also took its toll on Shantel’s self-confidence and her relationship with her family. She explained, “I felt like I was trapped in a foreign body and I would wince whenever I would get a glimpse of myself in a mirror. I hated my own reflection and was unhappy with my body which only lead to more weight gain. I had given up and was ready to just roll over and call it quits.”
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