How this mum broke her restrictive eating cycle and embraced a healthy life!

Before she joined The Healthy Mummy, Cassie weighed in at 66kg and was hoping to lose 3kg. She also suffered from secondary infertility and had been on an unhealthy, restrictive eating cycle.

In the first month of her joining the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge though, she lost 4kg and then slowly another 6kg which she counts as a bonus loss. How awesome is that?!

A motivating mum

When she came back from maternity leave after having her first baby, Cassie spent most days wearing baggy trackies, so she didn’t realise what size she was.

“I got all of my old work clothes out and was gutted when nothing fit. I had to go buy new clothes in order to go back to work. I knew that something had to change, but I wasn’t sure if I had the energy to do it,” Cassie admits.

In January 2017, Cassie won a 30 Day Free Access Pass the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge. She says by the end of the first week – she was hooked!

“The recipes are so easy to follow [on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge] and the food is delicious,” Cassie says. 

However a couple of weeks into the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, Cassie was informed that her son may have a rare metabolic disorder and needed further testing.

Thankfully he didn’t, but due to her son’s other medical conditions, Cassie and family attended a lot of appointments. As a result of big and no doubt stressful days driving around, Cassie found herself buying takeaway a lot more than she had planned.

“My son has a number of medical conditions and also seems to have a weak immune system. He has a shunt that drains fluid from his brain to his abdomen,” Cassie says.

After a few more weeks and the medical appointments slowed down, Cass was able to focus on her eating habits a little more. Where and when possible, Cassie makes and freezes Healthy Mummy snacks and meals. She also relies on a Healthy Mummy smoothie for quick and nutritious snack when on the go.

“Caramel would have to be my favourite smoothie flavour, followed VERY closely by Cookies & Cream and Banana,” says Cassie.

Find all of Cassie’s favourite Smoothie flavours here.

Overcoming injuries

After being a “couch potato” for a long time, Cassie struggled to return to exercise. She also complained of odd aches and pains as a result. 

“I started seeing a great physio and learnt that I not only had a very weak core, glute and pelvic floor muscles, but some of my joints were hyper-mobile,” Cassie says.

“In the beginning my setbacks really upset me, as I thought they meant I needed to start all over again,” she adds.

But now, Cassie’s learnt that setbacks are merely a lesson to be learnt from.

“I have learnt to focus on what I can do, rather than waste time worrying about things out of my control,” she says.

Cassie exercises daily and makes sure she completes at least a few sets of pelvic floor exercises, glute bridges and squats. And even though she doesn’t have any Abdominal Separation, she says the exercises on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge App have been great for her.

No more restrictive eating for this mama!

Cassie used to throw everything out at the end of the week, but now she uses all of her groceries and is spending next to nothing on takeaway.

She also preps meals and snacks with similar ingredients, for example she may do a day of bliss balls or a day of chicken based meals to save time and effort! 

To control her portion sizes and be extra organised Cassie says, “I have an extra freezer with ready made meals and snacks. I freeze meals in zip lock bags in individual portion sizes so they can be easily defrosted for any number of people and I wash and reuse the bags.” 

Her favourite snacks are Peanut Butter Crumble Bliss balls and the Choc Lava Mug cake. “I absolutely adore the Quick Chicken laksa for a quick Friday night meal and my fussy kids love the Cheesy Chicken Meatloaf (I hide grated carrot in it),” says Cassie.

Find Cassie’s favourite snacks in our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge recipe hub! We have 4,000 recipes to choose from!

Achievements

Reminding herself of why she first started this journey is also another way Cassie picks herself up.

“If I give this up then I just go back to where I was, unhappy, eating out of control and gaining weight,” she said.

Sticking to something for a whole year is a big achievement to Cassie as she say she tends to jump from interest to interest but investing time into her health has definitely paid off.

So much so that Cassie joined the Healthy Mummy Facebook Admin Team this year and has been a Healthy Mummy Motivating Mum three times, which she counts as a huge honour.

“I’m happy with my weight now, but I would love to tone and see some definition. Due to my joints, this is harder and will take me longer, but slow and steady will get me there,” Cassie says.

Cassie has come such a long way both inside and out and her happiness and health is obviously radiating so much so that her sister in law also joined The Healthy Mummy and is also having great success with the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge! 

Top tip from Cassie?

“You don’t have to go fast, you just have to go! You don’t need to do everything perfectly from day one – just pick a few small changes and keep practicing them until it becomes routine,” says Cassie.

If you are ready to tackle your lifestyle, stick to a healthy eating plan, exercise more, tone up and cook delicious, healthy meals which you and your family can enjoy – then be sure to check out our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge.