After not being able to fit into her wardrobe this mum lost 20kg* and now runs 15km

Signing up to The Healthy Mummy as a birthday present to herself in 2016, Sam Barker lost a HUGE 20kg.

“It’s taken 36 years but I can finally say I love myself more than I ever have!”

From not being able to jog to running 15km non-stop, this is how much this mum has altered her lifestyle!

Sam’s 20kg weight loss journey

After seeing The Healthy Mummy on Facebook, Sam was sick of not fitting into her clothes and making excuses for it.

She signed up to the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge as an early birthday present and hasn’t looked back since.

Having a goal weight of losing 20kg, Sam has now completed that and is looking on to the next goal!

Coming in at 74.2kg and a size 12, down from a size 16-18, Sam says, “Now that I’ve reached a 20kg loss, I’d ideally like to get to 70kg. The more important thing to me is continued fitness, strength and toning. If I don’t lose any more I won’t be worried.”

Overcoming self doubt

The working mum-of-three has had to overcome self doubt, depression and anxiety.

“In the beginning I found it harder to believe in myself but the results just kept on happening, slowly but surely,” she says.

When the results started to slow down, Sam found solace in her family and related to real mums going through the same challenges through the Healthy Mummy Facebook community.

Sam tells us, “I’ve never been this confident about my own body in my whole life! No going back now, this is my life.”

“My greatest achievement has been my running! I started out participating in ParkRun and not being able to jog more than 400m.”

In the past 6 months, Sam has completed an 11km trail run event and the 15km fun run last month.

“My next big goal is to run a half marathon in the next 6 months and in the next 12-18 months I’d love to aim for a full marathon!” 

Another big achievement for Sam is wearing a bikini to the beach! She achieved this goal by NOT exercising everyday.

“I aim to run 3 times a week for half an hour, and I also aim to do the HIIT/Tabata three times a week. If I haven’t done anything and I want to quickly do something small, I’ll do squats or jumping jacks,” Sam said.

Food changes means life changes

Since joining The Healthy Mummy, Sam’s shopping habits have changed from jars and take-away food to buying more fresh food, shopping at local green grocers and meat barns.

“I have saved money by not buying take-away 3-4 times a week either for lunch or dinner and by only drinking water and coffee now, not soft drink!” says Sam.

Now when Sam goes down the lollie aisle at the supermarket she can resist and finds herself enjoying healthy mummy snacks after dinner instead. She chooses no-bake recipes for quicker prep time!

Sams food changes have changed her family too!

She adds, “My fussy 12 year old daughter eats more veggies and fruit in Healthy Mummy meals and my 8 year old son and toddler love to join me for the workouts on the app.”

If you’re wanting to overhaul your life and/or wardrobe look into joining the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge as a realistic affordable way to lose weight. With a customisable plan to suit your needs, you will be given 4,500 recipes to play with and 350 exercise videos, you’re sure to find the right one for you!