For the love of food

I love food and I love cooking for my family and friends. I am a passionate foodie and cook, a mum, a wife, a daughter, a sister. But reaching this point hasn’t all been smooth sailing for me. My health journey began with a lightbulb moment at the end of 2012.

Let me explain.

I grew up in a community where food was a big part of life. Family gatherings revolved around food. When I was young I was this slim, little thing and I could eat anything and everything. I never worried about my weight – or health, for that matter. I got married very young and had my first son within a year. During my pregnancy I put on 20kg but within the first month of having my son I was back down to my usual weight of 55kg. And then “life” happened…

I have been battling with my weight for nearly 20 years. During all those years, I also battled a few health issues beside the obvious weight gain. I suffered from migraines that were debilitating and rendered me useless for quite a few days every month. I was diagnosed with B12 deficiency and, at the time, did not know anything about it. After a bit of research I found that B12 deficiency can be very dangerous if not treated. I also suffered from a chronic back injury for at least five years. All of that also had an emotional impact on me. I had mood swings, started having panic attacks and experienced bouts of depression. Life felt very grim and dark.

I knew I needed to lose weight, and so I dieted. I tried every diet possible: low fat, low carb, high carb, Atkins, pills, shakes… Nothing worked. Actually, let me correct myself: diets did work, but only for a certain amount of time. I felt miserable, deprived and unhappy. My back problems did not allow me to exercise in a way that would help me make any progress. Once my back got a bit better I did start to exercise, but my back issues were always in the way. I always felt that, for every step forward, I took two steps back.

I wanted to cook food that I could share with my family and friends and not feel guilty or bad about eating it.

When I was dieting, I also missed food – food that looked good, food that tasted good and food that was real food. My love of cooking and food grew even more during that time. I kept cooking and coming up with new and exciting recipes for my family and friends. Everyone loved my food – but  I felt guilty every time I took a bite of that food. My family felt miserable because I was taking my unhappiness out on them. I was beating myself up constantly…and the weight just kept coming back.

In 2004, I hit the 96kg mark on the scales. I was ashamed of myself and my failures. But, despite everything, I kept persevering and struggled and fought further. I exercised like mad but even then struggled to keep my weight around 80kg. And for my height, 164cm, that was just too much. I used to dread dinner parties and outings because I knew that, as soon as I stepped on my scales afterwards, the weight would be up. I used to think that all I had to do was think about food and I would put on weight.

Then I turned 40. At that moment I realised that, if I kept going like this, I would not be healthy, I would be unhappy, I would make my family unhappy and I would probably weigh 100kg by the time I was 50. Not a nice prospect for the future.

And then that lightbulb moment came and I realised that I know what to do. I believe I always knew the answer, somewhere in my subconscious mind, but that part of my brain just had to be unlocked at a specific time. I knew so much about food and healthy eating and decided to educate myself even more. I wanted to do that for myself and for my family. I wanted to be able cook and eat the foods I loved, not feel deprived and still lose weight. I wanted to cook food that I could share with my family and friends and not feel guilty or bad about eating it.

Everyone is different but, for me, my transition to eating well started with a mini detox at the beginning of 2013. I found that I needed to eliminate gluten and, once I had done that, I started losing weight. Everything started to get better. I went back to exercising. My back issues disappeared, my migraines stopped – and haven’t returned since I eliminated gluten from my diet – and my mood swings and depression also disappeared. I reached my goal weight of 60kg within eight months and have maintained it for two years now. Now, in my 40s, I look the same as I did when I was 20 years old. I am happy and healthy, my family is happy and I eat real, healthy and nourishing food. I lead an active and healthy lifestyle and enjoy life now better than ever.

I have become a holistic food coach and love sharing my passion for food and cooking with women of all ages. My ultimate goal is to help women get out of that vicious circle of dieting and empower them to take control of their lives. Over the next few months, I’m going to help you develop a “love” relationship with food. I will tackle some current food-related health trends and, best of all, I will share with you some yummy, healthy and easy to make recipes to get you started on a health journey of your own.