Busy mum-of-four who loves bread and chippies tipped the scales at 115 kilos

A busy mum-of-four has revealed how she managed to lose 35 kilos in nine months after years of yoyo-dieting and failed health kicks.

Nikki Viljoen, 50, from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland was blown away when she tipped the scales at 115 kilos in January 2020.

Speaking to FEMAIL she said she realised she had been stacking on weight ‘for years’ after putting the needs of her family first.

The mum said she has finally been able to keep the weight off and feels much better than she ever did

She once joked with her children’s doctor once about needing a ‘magic pill’ for weight loss only to be shocked when he suggested gastric band surgery.

‘It made me wonder how overweight I was, I didn’t think I would have been in the category for that surgery. It really shook me,’ she said. 

But it wasn’t until she jumped on the scales before having a colonoscopy that the teacher’s aid, who is 178cm tall, realised just how much weight she had put on.  

‘It was a bit of a shock to me and I knew I had to change something. Before that I just looked at my parents who were always big and my sisters and assumed it was genetic,’ she said.

‘The weight went on steadily after I had my first child 24 years ago, I felt like I couldn’t spend time and money on myself,’ she said.

Nikki ended up using Lite’N’Easy to get the weight off and to keep it off – noting she was a ‘grazer’ before and wouldn’t hesitate to reach for salty treats.

‘I don’t have a sweet tooth but I love carbs, love bread and love chippies,’ she said.

She now walks every day as well as following a meal plan Monday-Friday, allowing herself to eat whatever she likes on weekends

‘I wouldn’t hesitate to have some jerky or chips and never ate fruit,’ she said. 

She was shocked when the weight came ‘flying off’ after starting the program because she felt like she was getting heaps of food.

‘I wasn’t a big eater before because I just grazed, so when I first started I was shocked at how much food I got,’ she said.

‘It also showed me how important fruit is, I can feel the energy it gives me now,’ she said.

Nikki is still using the food service now, but eats whatever she wants on weekends, and says she no longer ‘feels guilty about it’.

‘I can have a barbecue with my family and know that whatever I put on over the weekend will come off in the week.

She is pictured here with her children who she says are stoked to have a healthy, active mum

‘It is usually only a few hundred grams and used to stress me but I have managed to keep the weight off for two years now so I am confident.’

Nikki also walks six kilometres per day through the week and eight kilometres each day on the weekend.

‘I wake up at 5am to get my walks in, I started doing this before I started eating the meals but only lost a centimetre here and there and didn’t lose weight,’ she said.

The mum was a ‘tight’ size 18 before she lost weight and now she slips into size ten and 12 clothes.

Nikki, who is tall, was always slim in her 20s, but put on more weight each time she became pregnant

She said she didn’t realise how unhealthy she had become until a doctor suggested gastric surgery when she joked about diet pills

She has a new found confidence following her weightloss and says she never feels like she is missing out on anything at lunchtime or dinner.

Nikki’s sister has been inspired to start ordering the meals after seeing how happy and healthy the mum is now.

‘She had gastric surgery and lost 50 kilos but has slowly put it all back on. She started Lite’n’Easy in February and has already lost ten kilos, she is stoked.’

Nikki says she will be buying the meals for life and hopes her husband will eat them once the kids leave home.