# **Episode 3: How I Lost 30kgs in a Year**
Welcome back to the Willett Podcast, and this is the episode that I am
very excited about recording, because this is the thing that I get asked
the most in terms of my weight loss journey, which is how did I lose 30
kilos in a year? I know this is always the thing in weight loss that
people want to know. How did you do it? What did you eat?
And the most crazy thing about my story is that I knew nothing about
nutrition when I lost weight, I really didn't. And because I'm a little
bit older, we didn't even have the internet. So while I may have read
diet books and tried things before, it's not like I had any new
information that I discovered that got me on this path to losing 30
kilos. But what I did have was some really important triggers and
changes that happened in my life that got momentum going in the right
direction. And that's what I'm going to be sharing about in this episode
today.
Yes, I'm going to tell you about changes I made with my food, but it's
far more about my circumstances, the mindset side of this journey, and
creating a really exciting goal that got me going.
So let me rewind and go back to where I was when I first landed in
Japan. So if you listened to the previous episode, you'll know that I
was at my biggest and I accepted this job to go and teach English in
Japan. And I went and lived in a great city called Nagoya.
So I arrived in Japan. And man, if it's hard being overweight and
unhappy when you live in a country like New Zealand, when you go and
live in a country like Japan, where you already stand out and people are
looking at you because you're already different, when you are different
and you are not happy about your body and feeling self-conscious... Oh
my goodness. That was not a great feeling for me.
Especially because when I arrived in Japan it was hot. It was the middle
of summer, it was hot, it was humid. I was sweaty when I walked, I would
get chafing between my thighs. It would rub and blister. I had to try
and find talcum powder to put between my legs to stop the chafing. I was
big, I was hot, I was sweaty, I was uncomfortable, and I hated having
any attention on me because I was just not happy in my own skin. So that
was me when I arrived in Japan.
And going to a country where you don't speak the language, where you
don't know anybody, the interesting thing that that gave me, which is
something I'd never had when I was living in New Zealand, was all of a
sudden I had quite a bit of free time. I would finish work at 3:00, go
home. And then, I mean, what are you going to do? You can't look at the
internet. You couldn't watch TV.
Luckily, I made some wonderful friends who were also English teachers.
We worked for the same company and they lived nearby, so they wanted to
join the gym. There was this beautiful gym that was near our houses and
it was lovely. It had a beautiful pool and it had a sauna.
So I joined my friends at the gym and that was great for me to have
something to do. Obviously it was something positive and it was a great
step in the right direction. Although I was horrified because I didn't
have the nice coordinated gym gear. Heck no. And I certainly couldn't
fit any clothes in Japan at that point. I had to wear just my old cotton
shorts and some plain old t-shirt, show up at this gym, which was filled
with beautiful Japanese women, you know, who were all quite small,
wearing their coordinated activewear and of course, a full face of
makeup. They always looked beautiful.
And here was me. Big, overweight, red-faced on the treadmill, feeling so
embarrassed. Oh my goodness, I just wanted to die, but I didn't. I just
showed up anyway and I thought, oh well, it's something to do. I don't
know these people. My friends were there. We would meet up after work,
have a workout and then go and eat something or just hang out.
So it was really a social thing for me, and I certainly couldn't
exercise much in the beginning because I hadn't done much when I was in
New Zealand. I could sort of walk on the treadmill, do a few weights,
and that was about it, really. And I remember when I'd been exercising
really regularly, I got on the scales after about a month, and I was
horrified to see I'd gained weight. I had gained two kilos from when I
had started at the gym.
I couldn't believe it. Like that was the point where probably I would
have quit because how frustrating to be exercising most days, feeling
like you're really doing well and the scales are going up. If I'd been
at home, that would definitely have been the point where I thought, "Oh
stuff it, what's the point? I'm just destined to be fat." I probably
would have had a good old cry and just quit, but I didn't because I was
enjoying it. It gave me something to do. I could catch up with my
friends and I just thought to myself, well, if I keep on going,
hopefully it's gonna start working.
And then something else happened which really put a rocket up my arse,
which was I created a really exciting goal, and I decided that I was
going to go home for Christmas. Now, at this stage, it was July, August,
and I thought, I'm going to go home for Christmas and I'm going to make
it a surprise. I'll surprise my family. They're not expecting me to come
home, but I'll go home for Christmas.
So all of a sudden I had this exciting short-term goal because I thought
to myself, I wonder if I could lose just a bit of weight before I go
home. I didn't know if it was possible. I certainly didn't think it was
possible after I'd exercised for a month and not lost anything, but I
wanted to give it a go. So I really focused on this goal and I just
thought, okay, let's give it a go and see what I can achieve between now
and Christmas.
So it was a really good amount of time. It wasn't too long, but it was
certainly enough time for me to start seeing a result. And I remember a
couple of weeks after that, I jumped on the scales again at the gym and
I'd lost half a kilo. So that was encouraging. I thought, oh well, at
least it's going in the right direction.
And once I started losing weight, it just kept dropping. And now that I
know what I know about how weight loss works and how metabolisms work, I
know that it just took my body a bit longer to get cranked into
fat-burning mode. It took longer for my fat-burning engine to get turned
on, for all of those pathways to get going, and it just took me longer,
probably to recover from the shock of exercising, which is why it took a
while to start to see those results.
But once my fat-burning engine kicked in, away I went and I was just
consistently losing 400 or 500g a week, which felt really, really good.
Now, I didn't know anything about nutrition, but I just started eating
what I thought was better. I'd have three meals a day. I did my best to
cut out snacks.
I'm not going to say that I cut out alcohol because that would be a lie.
We were young. We were social. I was only about 22 years old, and I have
to admit we were doing quite a bit of drinking, which was very fun. But
I just made an effort that if we were drinking, I wouldn't eat. I
wouldn't eat the fries that were put in front of us. I just really
focused on sticking to good meals and exercising.
Now, we were eating a lot of meals that were high in carbohydrates
because living in Japan, of course there's a lot of rice, there's a lot
of noodles. But the exercise did help me in terms of burning off that
energy. Plus, I was younger, so even though I was eating quite a lot of
carbohydrate-based foods, I was still seeing a result.
So then came my trip home to New Zealand. By the time that I went back
for Christmas, I'd lost about 8 or 9 kilos and I was feeling really
good. Some of my clothes were starting to feel looser. I was beginning
to notice, and when I went back to New Zealand, everybody noticed. My
parents noticed. My friends noticed. It was so exciting.
I decided that it was time to hit the beach because of course it was
summer back in New Zealand. So I bought some togs and it was the first
time I had worn togs for so long and that just felt really good. I mean,
I was still overweight, I was probably in the mid-80s by this point,
early to mid-80s, so I was still definitely overweight, but I felt
better and it was just so encouraging to get everybody else's feedback.
When I returned to Japan in January, I was unstoppable. I was so excited
I could see the results. I felt really spurred on by the encouragement
I'd received on my trip to New Zealand. And I went back to Japan and I
just went for it. I was exercising, I was eating well. I was so, dare I
say it, disciplined. And it wasn't even hard.
People would put food in front of me, like if I was at an event and I'd
get offered a piece of cake, I'd just be like, "No thank you." I
literally didn't want it because I was feeling so good, and I was just
really proud of myself for being able to get going with losing weight. I
was so happy to be on that journey. I just didn't want to sabotage my
success.
And when I look back, I think the other key ingredient is that for the
first time in my life, because I was living in a foreign country, I
didn't have to worry about anybody but myself. I was in charge of my own
routine. I would go to work, I would go to the gym. I could eat whatever
I wanted because I was only cooking for myself, and I could put a lot of
energy into my own self-care, which is something I just didn't do when
I'd been living in New Zealand.
And as I reflect back on that now as a weight loss coach, what's the
number one thing that sends people to come and see me? Because they're
putting everybody else's needs in front of their own. It's so, so
common. And that's exactly what I was doing. So when I moved to Japan, I
only had one person to worry about, which was me. And so I looked after
me and before I knew it, in one year I had lost 30 kilos. I could not
believe it.
And I have to say, it was the easiest weight loss journey I've ever been
on, which is incredible. And it's because I had the time to put into
myself. I just stayed motivated by my goal and that momentum kept
pushing me forward.
I remember thinking to myself each day, if I was going to take an
action, I would think, how am I going to feel about this action tomorrow
morning when I wake up? And all I wanted to do was feel proud of myself.
That was the thought that really kept me going.
I also had a photo of myself that I stuck on the wall next to the dinner
table, which was me eating out with my friends. And in this photo, this
was before I'd lost a lot of weight, I was the biggest one, and I was in
the front and we were all sitting around a table and my plate of food
was empty. And my friends, who were all smaller than me, they still had
food on their plate. And I looked at that photo and I thought to myself,
I don't want to be the fat friend. I don't want to be the one who's
finished all their food first. So that was another thing, another anchor
that really kept me motivated.
So within the year, I had lost my 30 kilos and I was on top of the
world. I was so proud of myself. And I remember one very poignant
moment. We had booked a trip to go to Thailand, and I decided I was
going to buy myself a bikini. Like we're not even doing togs anymore. I
had stepped it up. I thought, no way, I'm gonna wear a bikini.
And I went and tried on this little black bikini, and I was in the
changing rooms, and I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought, "Oh
my God, I am not fat anymore." Yes, I had the stretch marks, but all of
a sudden I looked at myself and realized, I'm not fat. My stomach is
flat. I could not believe that. I was just so happy, so, so happy. I was
deliriously happy. At that moment I cried.
I just remember making a vow to myself. I said, "Cheryl, you are never
gonna get fat again. Never. Do not let that happen." I remember thinking
that you could offer me all the money in the world, but I would not
accept that if it meant that I had to go back to being fat. I was just
so proud of myself for what I had achieved.
To say that it was life-changing is an absolute understatement. It just
absolutely did everything for me and it's changed the entire course of
my life. So in that moment, I vowed I was never going to gain weight
back. And I'm so proud to sit here all these years later, what, 26, 27
years later, and I have not gained that 30 kilos back.
Apart from when I was pregnant, because when I was pregnant I gained 20
kilos both times. So yes, I did gain weight then. But apart from being
pregnant, I have not gained that 30 kilos back and I'm right back to
where I was at that time in terms of my weight now. So I'm super proud
about that.
But in order to keep my weight off, there was a big piece of learning
that I had to do. And this is what I'm going to share with you in the
next episode, because while I was able to lose weight without knowing
anything about nutrition, I soon realized when I got back to New Zealand
that I was still doing the right actions. I was exercising, I was eating
well, but my weight was creeping up, and that's when I knew that I had
to learn how to eat.
So this is what I'm going to share with you in the next episode. How I
discovered the low-carb way of eating, the person who introduced me to
this food plan, and how I got on this path of eating low-carb,
maintaining my weight, and discovering this amazing way of eating that I
have now dedicated my life to teaching to other people.
I'm so looking forward to sharing all of this with you next week on the
Why Wait, Start Now podcast.
