Amanda Morris has halved her body weight. Photo / Supplied
Amanda Morris has halved her body weight. Photo / Supplied
Anyone who has a three-year-old will tell you that it's hard work keeping up with them. For Amanda Morris, it was particularly challenging.
When her son was young, she found she could barely play with him, due to the fact she weighed 141kg, reports News.com.au.
"I was puffedafter taking a flight of stairs," she recalls.
"I had to do something about my weight, for myself and for my son ... when he was little he was really active — he was right into trains and I found it so hard to play with him. I had trouble just getting up and down off the floor".
Ms Morris was also starting to suffer from other health problems associated with the excess weight. She had a lot of lower back pain, and she was concerned that her family has a history of type 2 diabetes.
So she started walking on a treadmill at home, and being more mindful of what she ate.
She lost 31kg, but plateaued at the 110kg mark.
At that point her sister mentioned a program created by former The Biggest Loser trainer Tiff Hall, TIFFXO, and Ms Morris, who works as a warehouse supervisor in Victoria, decided to give it a go.
Amanda does the exercise program in her living room. Photo / Supplied
She signed up in February 2017 and now weighs just 77kg.
Needless to say, she is a huge advocate for the program, which costs $39 a month.
"My husband travels a lot for work and my son is now five, so a traditional gym membership was out of the question. TIFFXO sounded like the perfect alternative, as the exercise part of it was something that I could do at home in my own time.
"The program covers everything ... most people only want to know about the weight loss, but they also work on how you think with mindfulness programs and things like that.
"There's a really good meal plan provided — the food is yummy and I've never felt hungry.
"The exercises are good and fun and you can do them in your own home. I've travelled overseas and done the work out in hotel rooms so you can take it with you anywhere."
Amanda used Tiffiny Hall's weight loss program to drop half her body weight. Photo / Supplied
"As well as that, there's the Facebook community associated with the program that is really supportive and positive. If you have a question you just post it on the page and people answer really quickly — sometimes Tiff answers herself.
Exercise wise, Ms Morris exercises six days a week.
"The workouts are around 25 minutes — they are high intensity but they are short so you can fit it in to your day, there are no excuses. I like that you're not working out for an hour every day.
"Most of the exercises use your own body weight (so you can do them wherever), but I use dumbbells a couple of days a week now as well".
While Ms Morris has noticed a big difference in her energy levels, she says the greatest change is in her self esteem.
"It used to be that as soon as I'd walk into a room I'd feel self conscious and that people were looking at me.
Amanda now weighs 77kg. Photo / Supplied
"I used to get worried every time I got a plane that the seatbelt wasn't going to fit and I'd have to ask for an extender.
"Every now and then I'd try and squeeze through the tables in a packed restaurant. I used to look at a situation like that and think 'how on earth am I going to fit through there ... I'm going to have to ask people to move and that's going to be so embarrassing.
"Socially I didn't want to get involved in things and I used to make excuses not to go to things."
She first remembers being conscious of her weight in early primary school.
"That was when the weight kind of started to creep on ... when I was in about grade 2.
"I then had a time as a teenager when I wasn't eating well at all in an attempt to lose a lot of weight. I was going to the gym very strictly and I eliminated carbs completely so it was eggs for breakfast, and a little bit of chicken or salad for lunch or dinner and that was it.
Amanda started struggling with her weight in her primary school years. Photo / Supplied
"I lost a lot of weight, but I just put it straight back on."
WHAT AMANDA IS EATING NOW
"I work full time, so I don't have a lot of time during the week. That's why the program is kind of good — you don't have to think about what you're going to eat, you just get the meal plan and you know what to buy at the supermarket for the week ahead.
"Monday to Friday I usually have a smoothie in the morning and then maybe chicken noodle soup for lunch, or you might have leftovers from dinner the night before.
"Dinner — tonight it's a Friday night so there's a yummy pizza recipe as a bit of a treat — the nutritionist balances it out for you.
I usually have two small snacks in between meals — little muffins or protein balls, otherwise yoghurt and berries or apple or banana with natural peanut butter, boiled egg, carrot and zucchini sticks.
"A good thing is Tiff talks a lot about balance and the fact that we are human — you can allow yourself a treat but then just reset and eat well for your next meal.
Amanda and her husband. Photo / Supplied
"The old me would have made the whole day a write off if I had had a treat. I would have just thought 'well, this week is a write-off, I'll start again next week' — but now I have a treat every now and then and it's normal and I don't beat myself up about it. I just make sure I get back on track straight away."
WHAT AMANDA WAS EATING BEFORE
"A lot of the time I would skip breakfast completely and then be hungrier later in the day.
"Once I hit the 3pm mark if I was at the shops I would grab some fast food because I was starving or buy a chocolate bar while I was doing the grocery shopping.
"That has been key to my weight loss — meal planning and not going to the shops every day. Because I would make bad food choices shopping when I was hungry. When it's planned out you're much more likely to stick to it.
"I used to leave work and go to the shops to select dinner. I'd eat really big portions of something like chicken schnitzel with chips and a lot of pasta and big stir-fries with noodles. And I'd usually have dessert (often ice cream) afterwards."
