A Taree mum is one of the stars of a promotional photo shoot targeted at empowering women to take their health back.
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Hannah Falzdeen has lost 28 kilograms on The Healthy Mummy program since joining just over 10 months ago.
After posting her before and after photo in the program’s Facebook group, she was one of nine women from across Australia selected to be pampered and styled for the special swimsuit photo shoot in Sydney.
“It was surreal even when I was there, I thought, what am I doing!? I’ve been quite blown away by the photos I’ve seen”.
She also attended a cocktail function and met program founder Rhian Allen.
Before Hannah started her weight loss journey, the 28-year-old mum of five was weighing in at 102kilograms and had a number of health issues.
“I was always anaemic and low in iron, I had a thyroid issue and I always needed a B12 injection just to help my body absorb the iron and give me a bit of energy,” said Hannah.
The biggest things for me were the health issues and the mental health issues, along with the physical, which was secondary.
- Hannah Falzdeen
She found The Healthy Mummy private support group on Facebook and decided to give it a shot.
“I’d tried so many things over the years to lose weight after my babies.
“I’ve come from no fitness or exercise so I started out slowly with the smoothies and walking. I lost 10kg straight away. I did my first 28 day challenge just last month.
“At first I was hesitant. You hear so much about being on smoothies and stuff.”
Hannah said the program’s app, which she has on her phone, gives her daily workouts and a customised meal plan.
“I cook a lot of meals on the weekends and have them ready for the week in the freezer, and snacks and stuff in the fridge.”
She has one smoothie a day for lunch, adding in extra vegetables including spinach, zucchini and avocado, and might have a second as a snack if she’s busy.
Life has changed dramatically for Hannah, now 74kg. “Before I was getting up at 10am and still be napping in the day.”
Now she’s up at 5am, works out, takes the kids to school, runs errands, doesn’t need a daily nap and is happy to be in bed by 9.30pm.
“Since losing the weight I haven’t needed any iron support or B12 and I haven’t had any thyroid issues.
“The biggest things for me were the health issues and the mental health issues, along with the physical, which was secondary. I haven’t had a bad depression since so the mental health side has been amazing too.”
A big part of it though, she said, was being mentally ready to make the change.
“Even just the knowledge I gained being on the Facebook page, that was the beginning. I’ve been trying to lose weight for years and trying so much stuff and not being ready mentally.
You’ve got to get into the mindset of the change. I started doing little changes daily and I just noticed the little changes, like not needing naps and more energy.
- Hannah Falzdeen
“You’ve got to get into the mindset of the change. I started doing little changes daily and I just noticed the little changes, like not needing naps and more energy.
“I started working out a bit longer every time and that sort of kept me going.”
Hannah is on the treadmill for 30 to 40 minutes each day and does The Healthy Mummy workout from the app four times a week.
“I’ve recently got a personal trainer and that helps.”
Not only has the program changed Hannah, but it’s also impacted on her children, two boys and three girls aged 10, 9, 5, 3 and 2.
“They’re drinking more water because they’ve seen me drinking so much water, and eating more fruit and vegetables. They’re copying me.”
You can follow Hannah’s health journey on Instagram at @hannahgrace1_