Weight loss success stories: How I lost 22KG

Photography: Mark Peterman

Consistency and tenacity drove Loida's successful and sustained weight loss

At age 12, Loida Fraijo discovered fast food; by the time she was 19, she was carrying 78kg on her 170cm frame. After she left high school she tried several crash diets, but she could never commit.

“I would get upset and start eating again,” says the 30-year-old cosmetic laser technician.

The change

Fraijo squeezed into the short skirts and tight tops her slimmer friends wore, but “I didn’t feel comfortable or pretty,” she says.

Then, while at a party in the summer of 2000, she overheard a guy announce that the “chunky girl” – Fraijo – was leaving.

“When I realised that’s how people saw me, I knew then that I had to change,” she says. “I wanted to transform my life more than I wanted a hamburger.”

The lifestyle

Fraijo replaced fast food with fresh spinach salads, grilled fish and chicken, and treated herself twice a month to vegie-loaded pizza or bunless burgers with a side salad.

Setting foot in her gym the first time, Fraijo says, “I felt like an alien.”

She had to stop and throw up after 15 minutes of walking, but she managed another 25 minutes after the nausea passed.

“I knew if I left then, I’d never come back,” she says.

In three months, she was power walking four days a week. As the kilos gradually peeled off, she busted plateaus by adding strength training and Zumba, cycling or kickboxing classes to her routine twice a week.

After five years of small changes, in August 2005, she was down to a svelte 56kg.

The weight loss reward

Now a size 8, Fraijo is thrilled to wear the clothes that once felt too tight, and she has more confidence too.

“I love bikinis – and I look good in them!” she says. “With my body in better shape, I finally feel at peace with myself.”

FRAIJO’S TIPS

Think (and cook) ahead
“If I know the next day will be hectic, I’ll prepare healthy meals the night before so my diet stays on track.”
Try to surprise yourself
“I switch up my routine every few months by hiking, running or climbing the stairs at a nearby school. That way, my muscles never get in a rut.”
Auto-tune your workout

“I listen to up-tempo music at the gym. When you move to the beat, your workout is easier and flies by.”

Related: The 14 best foods for weight loss

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