Model’s shocking before and after photos
MODEL Liza maintained the size she ‘needed to be’ for her first proper fashion week by consuming just 500 calories a day.
MANY of the ‘inspirational’ body transformation stories you see around the web involve someone losing weight. They often tell the story of someone who has struggled with obesity for much of their life, then they discover healthy eating and exercise and the motivational before and after photos are posted.
But this one is a little different. It tells of an international model who put on weight and ended up much happier for it.
Liza Golden-Bhojwani posted a before and after photo on Instagram last week and told her own personal body transformation story.
Liza, who began modelling at the age of 17, began her Instagram post — which has been liked over 12,000 times — saying “a little flashback Friday action for you.
“The left side was me at the start of the peak of my career. My first proper fashion week where I was actually the size I needed to be. I was booking amazing shows that one never thinks they actually could, walking with girls who I once looked up to, it was a serious adrenaline rush ... but after fainting one night in my apartment while preparing one of my very low cal meals (I think it was 20 pieces of steamed edamame if I remember correctly), I called it quits with the diet and workout regimen I was put on and decided I could do it on my own.”
“I thought to myself, I can still be this thin, but I’ll just eat a little more so I don’t feel so horrible. Well, eating a little more turned into eating nearly a bag full of almonds, which then turned into eating full size meals, which then turned into a full-blown binge. I was craving every single food you could imagine and I was giving in to every craving even though I knew this was such an important time in my career.
“I made it through New York Fashion Week okay, no one had noticed any weight gain, but by the time I had gotten to London Fashion Week I could see the pounds starting to show both in the mirror and on the measuring tape, but I kept quiet obviously not wanting to sabotage myself. “I found myself going to the grocery store and picking up raw vegetables to try and make up for the near two-week binge I had in New York, but I didn’t see any weight coming off no matter how “healthy” I was eating and no matter how many workouts I fit in.
“Milan Fashion Week came and I knew I was bigger and by bigger I mean a 35.5-inch hip rather than the 34.5-inch hip I started with in New York.
“I played it cool and just pretended everything was normal. I did end up booking shows, Dolce & Gabbana being one of them. Which I afterwards received online criticism about my thighs looking fat ... Anyways Paris Fashion Week came about, and I found it impossible to resist those chocolate croissants.”
After a relatively disappointing Paris Fashion Week where she booked just one show, Vogue named her as one of six girls in the Freshman model class of 2013, “which if you know the industry, is a little bit of a deal.”
“As it turns out I ended up being a 36.5-inch hip by the time [the next round of] castings started and I was pulled out of shows, because at that measurement you will just simply not book any shows. People wondered what the hell happened, where did she go? Where was she on castings? Did she get an exclusive? The truth was no I didn’t get an exclusive, I just POOF disappeared. I had seriously just given up on my short lived high fashion career, because I just simply could not hack it.
“I don’t know why of all people I was just unable to keep up with the diets and the regimes. I thought I was weak-minded, I didn’t care enough, or maybe I just didn’t want it enough. I beat myself up for a long time, playing it over and over again in my head how I completely failed.
So much was right there in front of me, and I just let it go because I could not let go of my worst enemy, FOOD.
“I went back to the commercial side of things, shooting catalogues where you don’t have to be a complete rail to book jobs. But in 2014 I got a kick, a rev of my engine, I wanted to get in shape again, I was over giving up. I wanted in again, but in a much healthier way. And I did just that, I worked my a** off day in and day out in the gym. I was strict about my diet, but I wasn’t fully starving myself like I had two years ago, I was eating more but I still kept a diary of exactly what I ate everyday and I would tally up the calories at the end of the day.
“In 2012 I was having about 500 calories a day, whereas here in 2014 I was having about 800-1200 depending on my mood and hunger patterns. I was the fittest I ever was in my entire career at this point, I had sixpack abs, but still I wasn’t fit enough for the likes of Victoria’s Secret or other brands.”
After a “soul-searching” trip to India, Liza met the love of her life, got married and decided to break up with life in New York.
“I relocated my dogs and myself to India. 2016 was the first time in three years where I finally picked myself up and said ‘you know what, f*** this sh** I am going to get back to work no matter what’.
“I was struggling to lose weight again, and one day I just thought ... why am I fighting against my body? Why don’t I just go in the same direction? Stop forcing my own agenda and just listen to my body. And that’s what I did, slowly slowly I was coming into my true body form. My natural self, not my forced self.
“The picture to the right [in her Instagram post above] is me as of right now, my body as it is. Not perfect, not show-ready or Victoria’s Secret ready, but it is mine and my soul is happy. I workout five days a week, but there are times when I don’t due to injuries, or travels. And you know what? That’s just fine with me.
“I do it solely for myself, not for my job anymore. I eat what I want and I feel no guilt. And for me that’s a good feeling. Maybe I wasn’t made to be on the covers of magazines and shooting the biggest and best brands, but I was made for a reason. I do deserve to be happy and feel fulfilled. We all do. Maybe I was made to share this story and spread the message of body love to all the women out there struggling.”