MAFS star confesses she ate McDonald’s everyday during pregnancy

Aussie reality TV star Selin Makoni has revealed how she turned her junk food diet around to set a better example for her child.

The News Corp study into the health of the nation found South Australia is the fattest state (38 per cent identify as being obese), followed by Tasmania and the NT (36 per cent), then Queensland (33 per cent).

Overweight Australians want an easy fix, with more than 60 per cent considering weight-loss drugs, such as Ozempic, and one in three reaching for vitamin pills.

Forty per cent of us are junk food addicts, consuming soft drinks, burgers and chips, chocolates and lollies more than once a week.

We’re also couch potatoes, with the survey finding half of us are in the high-risk category of sitting for more than eight hours a day and spending just 34 minutes exercising.

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Sengul “Rose” Mengu grew up in Turkey, on a classic Mediterranean diet, where food and family were everything — and the health benefits a bonus.

“We ate three course meals starting with soup then lots of casseroles with rice, green beans, eggplant, potato, stuffed capsicum, chilli and tomato and for dessert milk pudding, pastry, syrup cakes,” she said.

Rose moved to Australia, aged 23, and would make weekend Turkish breakfasts for her young family.

Selin Makoni, 43, with her mum Sengul “Rose” Mengu, 59, and her son Roman Makoni, 4. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Her daughter Selin Makoni remembers them as her “favourite thing ever”, but three decades on, Rose, 59, has chronic regional pain syndrome and can no longer prepare the elaborate dishes.

Meanwhile, Selin, 34, developed a dark food addiction.

“I used to eat McDonald’s every day. So, very bad,” the mother, TV personality and influencer said.

“I actually ate it when I got checked into the hospital (to give birth) as well. I said ‘I want a Big Mac meal’. I had the monitor on my belly and I was eating McDonald’s.”

oman’s birth four years ago became a turning point — she decided to set a better example for him.

“I got more disciplined and thought I’m not going spending money on eating processed foods. I was telling my son not to eat it every day. And I needed to then set that example,” she said.

To lose weight after the birth, Selin joined a local gym with her sister and took part in an F45 weight loss challenge and won.

Selin said she only got away with her junk food diet because she inherited “skinny genes” from her father’s side of the family.

Rose hopes her six grandchildren will enjoy the same healthy diet she was brought up on.

“We used to always have a dinner table set up, a family dinner and come together at the table,” she said.

“I want my grandchildren to eat healthy one hundred per cent.”

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Originally published as MAFS star confesses she ate McDonald’s everyday during pregnancy