Woman reveals the tragic reason behind her weight gain

A chef has revealed how years of feeling bad about herself and personal tragedy let to a cycle of comfort food and locking herself away in her room.

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A chef has revealed how years of feeling bad about herself and personal tragedy led to a cycle of comfort food and locking herself away in her room.

Bridget Davis could feel the weight coming on, but she used to have an easy time putting on a few kilograms and then losing it. However, she had no idea she was perimenopausal and that was impacting this.

“I was feeling down about myself in general, I wasn’t feeling too good and it was getting harder and harder to lose weight,” Ms Davis told news.com.au.

She was also constantly fatigued, sleeping for 12 hours and still feeling tired.

What felt like the point of no return was when she suffered a miscarriage and her whole world fell apart.

Bridget Davis had felt the weight coming on for a while, but it was a miscarriage that felt like a point of no return. Picture: Supplied

She started engaging in self destructive behaviours, finding herself gripped by a binge eating disorder and constantly seeking comfort foods.

“At the same time I was going through about half a bottle of vodka a day,” Ms David said.

“At the same time I locked myself away in my room, away from my family, from my husband. I didn’t want anyone to see me, to talk to me. I’d become a hermit.”

She said even before the miscarriage, she could feel herself slipping for a number of years. But, the chef found solace in writing a cookbook while locked in her room. A publisher wanted to print it, and to launch it they said Ms Davis was going to cook some of her recipes on morning television.

“I was frozen in fear, like I completely panicked at the thought of going on TV and looking like a whale. Who wants to cook food made by someone who looked and felt like I did,” she said.

She had five weeks and it was just the motivation she needed to take her life back.

“I started Googling ‘How to lose weight fast’ and doing jumping jacks in my room when I wasn’t on the computer,” she said.

“The internet kept taking me to this idea of gut health so I looked into it.”

Ms Davis describes herself as a science nerd, loving to know how things work, and she learned when your gut isn’t healthy it means you can hold onto weight and inflammation – which is what she felt like was happening to her.

A television appearance for her cookbook forced her to turn her life around. Picture: Supplied

So, she started to heal it by simply focusing on eating one healthy meal a day, staying away from sugar, dairy and refined grains such as wheat.

Ms Davis enjoyed it and started to incorporate it more and more, quickly losing 12kgs in just five weeks ahead of her television appearance – and eventually 35kgs in six months.

She has kept the weight off for seven years.

But, it wasn’t just a change on the outside: She felt more rested, felt her hormones were more regulated and her mood lifted. She said it was a moment of clarity to help realise how everything was connected.

Her husband ended up joining her in a bid of support and he lost 15kgs.

The chef lost 35kg in six months. Picture: Supplied

She posted images of her journey, as well as her recipes, onto Facebook and people started to ask her for the recipes. Within a week, she had a 1000 requests for her recipes. She knew she could do something to help others just like her in a considered and non-judgemental space.

That’s how Bridget’s Healthy Kitchen was born – an online platform that Ms Davis has devoted to becoming a place where people can learn about gut health and food.

In addition to her seven cook books, Ms Davis, who has since become qualified in nutrition, created the 28 Day Boost Camp for people who want a plan.

“They want some guidance, they want a meal plan, they want the recipes and they want the shopping lists, she said.

“I get that, I’m a busy person.”

Thus, Bridget's Healthy Kitchen was born. Picture: Supplied

She said it was a community where people automatically had cheerleaders on their side, because not everyone has that in their every day life.

“The main thing why Boost Camp works, is everything that I do, is based in really solid nutritional science,” she said.

“So it’s not my opinion, it’s not an ideal, it’s what our bodies need.”

She said the recipes are always different from the last one, it’s all restaurant quality thanks to her background as a chef, and it’s nutrition dense.

All the recipes are designed to keep blood glucose stable, anti-inflammatory and take no longer than 20 minutes. When people sign up, they get a step-by-step guide that includes daily emails and tips.

It also caters to different diets, allergies and intolerances with substitutions for almost everything.

The next Boost Camp kicks off on September 9.

Originally published as Woman reveals the tragic reason behind her weight gain