Mum who weighed nearly 100kg now unrecognisable after ditching fast-food diet

A mother-of-two who weighed 98kg is now unrecognisable after a confronting comment led to her ditching her fast-food diet.

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Courtney Harradine never thought she was overweight until she became pregnant with her second child.

“The midwife said I was classified as obese, and it shocked me because I didn’t think I was that badly overweight,” Ms Harradine told news.com.au

The Canberra mother-of-two would consume roughly 3,000 calories a day with a diet mainly consisting of $2 frozen lasagnes, big bowls of cereal and hot chips.

“I would just always eat. If I was hungry or bored I’d eat,” Ms Harradine explained.

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Courtney Harradine, 25, weighed 98kg at her heaviest. Picture: The Healthy Mummy

The 25-year-old said that while she was bigger than what she would have liked to be, she never thought she was overweight, until the midwife’s confronting comment.

“I tried to just love the curves and body I had. You hear all the mums that say this is just how some bodies are after having babies,” Ms Harradine said.

However, it came to a point where she would hide from cameras and photos, never wanting to see “how big” she looked next to other people.

It was in this moment the mum decided to overhaul her life, going on to lose 30kg after ditching her fast-food diet.

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She said she gained a lot of weight during her first pregnancy. Picture: The Healthy Mummy

“I started doing research to find out what I was doing wrong and how to be healthier,” she said. “I came across The Healthy Mummy towards the end of my second pregnancy and started on their smoothies.”

Ms Harradine weighed 94 kgs before she fell pregnant with her second and would later peak at

98kg.

“But because I was having the smoothies already, my weight started falling off after having my baby. I just kept doing the Healthy Mummy recipes and eventually their workouts to keep losing the weight.”

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Courtney said it motivated her to turn her life around and ditch her fast-food diet which included $2 frozen lasagnes and hot chips. Picture: The Healthy Mummy

The mother-of-two said her diet today consists of fruit smoothies and protein-rich foods and vegetables. Picture: The Healthy Mummy

Apart from the smoothies, which include fruit, ice, milk and oats, her diet also consists of (lots) of vegetables and salad bowls with plenty of protein.

“I would always have a smoothie for breakfast. I would sometimes have a second smoothie in the afternoon or evening. I like freezing already made smoothies to make a healthier ice cream for after dinner,” she said.

She also trains up to four times a week doing both gym sessions and at-home workouts using dumbbells and a resistance band.

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Prior to her transformation, the mother-of-two was consuming up to 3,000 calories of food a day, with no exercise. Picture: The Healthy Mummy

“I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself to workout because sometimes we have busy days and I just can’t get around to doing a workout that day.

“But having the intention to try to do a workout everyday helps me be a little more active.”

To help boost her motivation Ms Harradine parks her car further away from the grocery shop “so I have to push the trolley up a ramp”.

Even though Ms Harradine reached her ideal weight goal in December 2019, the mother-of-two said she wasn’t happy with her shape, embarking on a new challenge to tone her body, turning to Aussie health and fitness YouTuber Sarah’s Day ebook.

“It helped me shape my tummy to what I’ve been aiming for the past few months. There is so many health and fitness products out in the world. It’s hard to know what works. But so far what I’m doing is working for me,” she said.

While she went on to lose the weight, Courtney then focused her attention on toning and tightening her body. Picture: The Healthy Mummy

She trains up to four times a week doing both gym sessions and at-home workouts using dumbbells and a resistance band. Picture: The Healthy Mummy

Ms Harradine said she has come a long way in her transformation journey, from the woman who once struggled to fit in a swing next to her four-year-old son and “hating” the way she looked, to a confident woman bursting with energy.

“I’m so proud of myself. I feel like I’ve learnt so much about eating healthier and living a healthy lifestyle that this is just me now. This is who I am.”

“All I ever want as a parent is to be a good role model for my kids. And I want them to be healthy and make healthier choices so I needed to set the example.

“Some days I still have some of the same thoughts of not being good enough or still needing to do more. But I definitely feel better knowing I’ve already accomplished so much and I am so proud of myself for sticking with it.”

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