123 diet helped me lose 32 kilos

Ana Reyes, 50, Fairfield, NSW

My daughter pulled out her phone and grinned.

‘Let’s get a photo!’ she said.

My dad, daughters Krystle and Alicia and five grandkids were all around at mine.

Squeezing close together, all four generations of the family smiled as Krystle snapped away.

Later that day, when the photo popped into my Facebook feed,

I was puzzled.

A bulky woman with an enormous body was in the image.

She was smiling, but her eyes seemed so sad.

For a split second, I wondered who she was.

Then I realised…

That woman is me.

Ana’s before shot: “Me, before I started on the 123 diet.”

Tears poured down my cheeks as I faced the awful truth for the first time in years.

For most of my life, I had been a healthy size 10-12.

But as time passed and the girls moved out, I had found myself slipping into depression.

For the past five years, there’d been one comfort that could fill the pit of sadness inside me: food.

Since then, my need to eat totally consumed me.

For breakfast, I’d devour three bacon and egg McMuffins and hash browns from Macca’s. Lunch would be a burger and chips, and for dinner I’d polish off a pizza with a side of chicken wings. I would always treat myself to dessert and would snack on lollies, chips and chocolate, too.

What Anna ate before

Breakfast: Three bacon and egg McMuffins and hash browns from Macca’s

Lunch: Burger and chips

Dinner: A pizza with a side of chicken wings

Plus dessert and snacks of lollies and chips.

As the kilos piled on, my self-esteem ebbed away.

My grandkiddies were my everything, but I found myself holding back from them.

‘Please come to our physie display,’ Diyala, nine, would plead.

I’d shake my head.

‘Sorry, love, I can’t make it,’ I would lie.

There was just no way I could go – no-one would want to be seen with me.

Soon, I couldn’t get my ballooning body up the stairs without wheezing and my belly was so big, I couldn’t see my toes in the shower.

Hiding away in baggy size 18 shirts and stretchy pants, I was in denial that I could change.

This was me now.

But as I looked at that pic Krystle had taken, something snapped.

I weighed 86.6kg – way too big for my 162cm frame.

I don’t want to be a fat nanna, I decided.

I want to be a fit nanna!

First, I joined a diet support group on Facebook.

People were chatting about the 123 Diet, which consisted of following a healthy clean-eating diet plan and taking some all-natural herbal drops which helped curb food cravings.

I had nothing to lose but the kilos, so I decided to give it a go.

When the plan arrived, I was shocked. I couldn’t understand how fresh fruit and veg could fill me up.

I was going to be famished!

What Anna ate to lose weight

Breakfast: Berries with apple and plain yoghurt

Lunch: Prawn salad

Dinner: Chicken or steak stir-fry crammed with veggies for dinner

Ana’s after shot: “I’m so proud of my new body”

Focus, Ann, I scolded. I had to do this, for my family and myself.

So I tucked into berries with apple and plain yoghurt for breakfast, a prawn salad for lunch and a chicken or steak stir-fry crammed with vegies for dinner.

The first couple of days were tough, but I felt full and my cravings for treats subsided.

Apart from the housework, I didn’t do any exercise, but my energy levels soared.

I could hardly believe it when I stood on the scales after the first week and saw that I had dropped a whole 7kg!

It was just the boost I needed to keep going.

A month on, I’d lost 12kg.

‘You look amazing!’ Krystle cried when she saw me.