Being tagged in an unflattering Facebook photo can feel like the ultimate betrayal (especially if the rest of your friends are looking fantastic). But while most of us will just untag ourselves or angrily text our friends to demand they let us know exactly what they were thinking putting up that photo, Sarah Reynolds, a 31-year-old mom from Canada, took a more novel approach: She lost 100 pounds so she’d never take an unflattering picture again.
Reynolds says she didn’t really have an idea of how she looked until a photo that she felt embarrassed by surfaced on the internet. She told the Daily Mail that she didn’t take care of herself after the birth of her third child and would eat and snack whenever she felt like it. She now eats berries and granola when she’s hungry (she claims it tastes like pie), but before her wake-up call she was eating junk as if her life depended on it.
Here’s how Reynolds described her relationship with food and what it felt like to see that single, life-changing photo:
She said: ‘When I saw the Facebook photo I was embarrassed.
‘I was also shocked because it didn’t seem to me to be the image I thought I was in my head. It was worse than I had allowed myself to believe.’
Sarah says that she struggled with her constant urge to eat which saw her pile on the pounds.
She continued: ‘I’m a self-diagnosed food addict — it’s an overwhelming need or desire to eat.
‘One that can consume my thoughts at times, and create cravings I almost felt I couldn’t deny.
‘Triggers would often be special occasions or the feeling that it was my only chance to have something before it was gone.’
Despite all those urges, Reynolds knew she had to do something. So she began working out and eating healthy (no small feat while taking care of three small kids). Then, when she’d lost enough weight to feel good about herself, she began to tone up with weight training. According to Reynolds, the secret to her success is holding herself accountable, exercising (even if it’s just a little), and tracking everything she does. She also serves at a restaurant some nights and, according to her, it’s all the cardio she could ever need. You don’t have to be a server to get Reynolds’ results, though. She says that on her off days she works out for 30 minutes at home and has learned to love fruit and vegetables.
Reynolds also says that committing to keeping herself active and fit has made her a better mother and that other mothers out there should get fit because “they deserve it.” Not only that, but she says that her children have benefited greatly from her health and fitness regime. Instead of just chilling by the TV, she goes on hikes with her kids and is careful with how she talks about her body: Speech that promotes “getting strong” and “being healthy” is allowed, words like “diet” and “weight loss” are not.
Learning to like (or at least tolerate) vegetables at a young age can’t be anything but good for her kids, because we all know how hard it is to decide that a piece of broccoli is delicious once you’re an adult.
What’s next for Reynolds? She hopes to inspire other parents to make the same choices she has. No word on whether an exercise DVD or a book is coming, but these transformation images should be inspiration enough!
(Via The Daily Mail; h/t: Bro Bible)
