Wedding photo shocks mum into losing 45kg

A mum has shed a staggering 45kg to become a figure competitor thanks to a wedding photo that shocked her into realising how much she weighed.

Rachel Krebs decided to transform her life after seeing the image on her friend’s big day two years ago. At the time she weighed 101kg, after piling on the weight from two pregnancies – giving her a BMI of 47.1, which put her into the morbidly obese category of the scale.

“I gained quite a bit of weight from my two pregnancies, so when I lost 35lbs (15kg) I thought I was looking pretty good,” the 32-year-old from Bellingham, US, said.

“But when I saw pictures from my best friend’s wedding it was a reality check. I realised that I was still very overweight and technically obese according to my BMI.

“I also wasn’t able to be the mother I wanted to be. I finally said, ‘enough is enough’ and decided this was not the way I wanted to live my life anymore.”

After seeing the photograph from her friend’s big day she cut out all processed food, fast food and alcohol, in favour of organic healthy options through her Isagenix program, which she supplemented with exercise three to six times a week.

“I wanted to be the mom who could run after her kids and do cartwheels, not stuck in a recliner too tired to do anything.

“Isagenix provided an easy to follow plan. It was something that was maintainable for an extended long-term time-frame and had a great community that provide a lot of support and accountability.

“I cut out processed food, fast food and alcohol. I stuck to eating whole foods and tried to be as organic as I could.”

Using her dream of entering a figure competition to spur her on, she continued to get slimmer and trimmer and would perform at her first event last year.

Now, having dropped to under 63kg and with 16 per cent body fat, she said she now feels like a different person.

“I was so proud of how far I’ve come, from a place where I was obese and depressed, to feeling like an athlete and someone who is proud to be a role model for my kids,” she said.

“I never could have imagined this transformation, if someone would have told me, I would have laughed.

“I remember being so physically exhausted and used to avoid social situations, now I’m really excited to be around people.

“For me the most important thing was just being able to run around with my kids, teach my daughter to do a cartwheel. Before I could barely walk up and down the stairs.

“Now my kids ask me to flex my muscles, so they can take pictures. My daughter even told her teacher that I lost weight.”

After entering her first figure competition last year, where she placed 8th, she’s continued to do more competitions and continues to lose weight.

“When I share my transformation pictures people cannot believe it’s me and don’t recognise me,” Rachel said.

“It was a fun discovery that after two babies I could still have abs and a six pack.”

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