Sydney woman who lost 55 kilos naturally shares her story and tips for weight loss
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An 18-year-old woman who has overcome her struggle with weight and body image has shared her story after losing 55kg and dropping 10 dress sizes.
Credit: 7News.
Cassandra Hili, a Sydney-based PR director, has always considered food as her ‘emotional cushion’ and growing up in a Mediterranean family meant that food was a big part of her culture. This led to her weight spiralling out of control by the time she reached 15.
“Everyone likes to say ‘I blew up overnight’. I started to gain weight, and it just kept piling on,” said Cassandra, recalling how her weight gain started during her childhood.
“I was still a child; I just wanted to do whatever I wanted. I took my emotions out on food because it was easy. The only problem I had was portion control.”
She admits that her daily diet back then was not the healthiest nor the most appropriate for a growing young person.
For breakfast, she would usually have a strip of bacon, eggs, and ham on toast, followed by a chocolate chip muffin. Her lunches typically consisted of a burger, a bag of chips, and a soft drink to wash it down. Her dinners depended on what was prepared at home for that night, but her servings were usually large. This was often followed by ice cream or yoghurt.
After her parents took notice of Cassandra’s unhealthy eating habits, they took her to the hospital to run some tests and prevent her rapid weight gain.
“I got a bunch of blood tests done and found I was insulin resistant,” she said. “I spent a good five years back and forth with doctors, trialling new eating programs and being pulled out of school.”
“But nothing helped because I wasn’t ready to help myself.”
By the time Cassandra entered high school, her weight gain situation had taken a turn for the worse and started to affect her mental and physical health, too.
“I ended up getting depression, and I spent most of my time in high school at the school counsellor’s office,” she recalled. “I was tired of being told what to do and how I should eat. I just wanted to be a kid and live freely.”
“I just kept gaining weight and getting more and more unhealthy.”
Cassandra was only fifteen years old when her recorded weight reached a shocking 117 kilograms, being marked as obese for her age. She also remembered suffering from a lot of knee and ankle injuries because of her weight.
“It wasn’t until I sprained my ankle for the fourth time just before my 17th birthday that I decided enough was enough.”
In a strange stroke of luck, Cassandra’s light bulb moment came onto her after watching Christina Aguilera’s musical film ‘Burlesque’. The young girl remembered her dreams of wanting to be like the singer when she grew up.
And at this point, she finally realised that her body was hindering her from achieving her goals in life.
“I took my life and health into my own hands,” said Cassandra.
“I limped off the lounge and started clearing out all of the ‘junk foods’ I would usually eat. I started by changing the way I ate. I cut down on processed foods, cut down on my carbohydrate intake, but most importantly, cut back on my portions.”
The then sixteen-year-old decided to make drastic changes to her diet and portion sizes.
“After a few weeks of doing this and dropping some weight, I started exercising.”
By the time Cassandra celebrated her 18th birthday, she had already naturally lost an incredible 55 kilograms.
Credit: 7News.
Cassandra currently weighs between 66 to 71 kilos.
“I do still have a lot of loose skin. So while I have lost weight a few times, my body still does carry some of the old version of who I used to be,” she said.
“But I do believe my weight loss journey and everything that happened was something that has led me to where I am today.”
The now 27-year-old has been maintaining her size 10 physique through regular exercise and intermittent fasting - a method where one restricts their meal periods to a certain number of hours per day.
“I stop eating at about 8:30 pm and then eat again at around lunchtime,” she said. “I no longer count any calories or macros, I did spend a large portion of my life doing this, but now I eat intuitively and just stay mindful of portion sizes.”
Cassandra also made it a habit to work out at least twice a week, either with Pilates, weight training, or by simply walking.
Credit: 7News.
Even though Cassandra is in a much better and healthier state of health now, she still remembers how she felt when she was still young and overweight.
“There are times I look back and go: Wow, 13 year-old-me would be proud of where we are right now and what we have done,” she said. “But there are times where I look back and just feel sad about how I felt at that age; I have sad memories of those times.”
Cassandra also shared her biggest advice for those who are in the middle (or looking to start) their weight loss journey: “Do it for yourself and be your number one fan. Celebrate the milestones, set goals and find the right team of people who are going to support you through it!”
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