You Got This: Brisbane mum loses 55kg after being overweight most of her life

A Brisbane mother-of-two known as the “big girl” has shocked herself after shedding 55kgs and flaunting a new, toned figure.

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Sally Jones has been overweight her entire life. She never knew any different.

In fact, she said she grew up thinking she would always be known as the “big girl” and at 120kg had lost all hope.

“It didn’t occur to me I could not be big — it was all I knew,” Ms Jones told news.com.au.

“I was just under the assumption that’s how I was going to spend the rest of my life.”

But that all changed when a doctor told the Brisbane mum she could become an insulin dependent diabetic if she didn’t change her ways.

After seeing her dad suffer with the condition, as well as her uncle and aunty who were all diabetic, she knew she didn’t want to go down that road.

Most importantly, the single mother-of-two said she didn’t want her kids to have to care for her.

It sparked a change in Ms Jones that saw her lose an impressive 55kgs, taking her to a healthy 65kg today.

Sally Jones used to weight 120kgs. Picture: Supplied

DAY ON A PLATE AT 120KG

First she had to beat her food habits, explaining “everyday was a bad day”.

“It was a pie on way to work and a can of coke, then a burger and sausage roll and a few more cans of coke,” the 32-year-old said.

“I’d have ice cream in the car on the way to work and a cheese burger on the way back then onto a full dinner. There was no stopping it.

“I liked good food too but all the greasy fatty stuff is what makes you feel better about yourself when you’re not feeling good at the time.”

She went on to lose 55kgs after a health scare. Picture: Supplied

The Brisbane mum said she hated the way people stared and talked to her because of her weight.

“People address you differently. Not so much because they’re rude, but you are an afterthought and not really on their radar to make an effort with,” she said,

After having her son eight years ago, Ms Jones lost a few kilos but it wasn’t until having her daughter two years later things really changed.

She joined The Healthy Mummy and lost a massive 40kg in two years. Over the following four years she chipped away at another 10kg and toned up.

“I am a pretty confident person about a lot of things but the gym was a very intimidating place,” she admitted.

“When you are still pretty big you carry injuries and you get a lot of people wanting to talk to you about what you are doing.

“It can be confronting because I didn’t even know what I was doing, I was just trying to pretend I wasn’t uncoordinated.”

The single mother-of-two now boasts a healthy 65kgs. Picture: Supplied

DAY ON A PLATE AT 65KG

Now she said her days of junk food are long gone — instead you will find “all the good stuff” in Ms Jones’ pantry.

“For breakfast I will usually have eggs and bacon because I train (four times a week) and know when to put in the good stuff,” she said.

“Lunch will consist of chicken salad or tuna salad with rice cakes — I eat a lot of fruit. It’s my life. All of my snacks are fruit.

“And for dinner, the kids love the Healthy Mummy meals so I’ll have anything from

Mexican lasagne, stir frys to beef and onion soup.”

Sally said her kids have never known her to be overweight, and it motivates her to continue to maintain her healthy and active lifestyle. Picture: Supplied

TRAINING FOUR TIMES A WEEK

Ms Jones mainly does weight-based training and gets in her cardio by walking her kids to school.

She said her kids have never known her to be overweight and she plans on keeping it that way.

“It has been really motivating to stick to my new lifestyle choices and have my kids see the woman I am now rather than the overweight, unhappy side,” she said.

“When I first started exercising I would get up in the morning, make a smoothie, put it in a carry cup, put both kids in stroller and walk to the park.

“I’d do squats, then 20 push-ups and walk back home.

“Even now there’s days when it’s really hard — it’s a billion times easier to just make a burger which is what I did 10 years ago. But it didn’t make me happy in the long run. I have found my groove and I am sticking to it.”

She ditched the junk food, and substituted it for healthy, wholesome foods. Picture: Supplied

Sally says she’s never been happier. Picture: Supplied

BIGGEST CHALLENGES

Ms Jones not only had issues breastfeeding but she also suffered from post natal depression.

“I had put a lot of pressure on myself to be super mum, so I had a lot of problems when my son was born that took me a while to get through,” she bravely explained.

“So when Ellie was born I decided I was going to lose the weight and focus on my mental health.”

The young mum was faced with many challenges while trying to lose weight, with her father being sick, to working, studying and having to deal with all the other pressures of being a single mother.

Her advice to other women in a similar situation is to “just give it a go”.

She said big or small, every start counts.

Her advice to other women in a similar situation is to ‘just give it a go’. Picture: Supplied

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