A single mum who used to eat six pieces of peanut butter toast for breakfast every morning has changed her life after losing half her body weight in just 12 months.
Jo Bowden, 31, had been turning to food to make herself feel good for her entire life.
The New Zealand native, who at her heaviest tipped the scale at 174 kilos, put her own health on the back burner to take care of her son, who has nonverbal autism.
‘I would just eat and eat and eat, and needed to eat more, because there were troubles with my son,’ Jo told Daily Mail Australia. ‘I just didn’t see any way out.’
New Zealand single mum Jo Bowden, 31, lost half her body weight in a year after tipping the scale at 174 kilos
Jo put her own health on the back burner to take care of her son, who has nonverbal autism
Jo (pictured with a friend in an old pair of pants) increasingly turned to food for comfort as her son Ashar battled a serious illness that affected his blood vessels
From when she was a young girl, Jo had always associated food with making herself feel good.
So when times got increasingly tough after her son Ashar was hospitalised at 15 months with a serious blood vessel illness, desserts were the first thing Jo turned to.
‘Food made me feel good, it was like I was rewarding myself,’ she said. ‘And it spiraled out of control.’
After starting off her morning with the slices of peanut butter toast, there would often be pie, a tub of ice cream and a block of chocolate by lunch.
There were also chips and biscuits throughout the day and meats and potatoes for dinner.
‘I would buy fruit and vegetables, but they’d just rot in my fridge,’ Jo said. ‘The intention was there, but it was never followed through.’
‘I was blinded to the weight I was putting on because it was an issue I didn’t want to face. My son had my full focus and my health deteriorated, it just wasn’t important.’
‘I didn’t matter at all – all that really mattered was my son.’
Jo was gaining about 20 kilos a year, and soon ‘everything was a struggle’, from walking to the car to rolling over in bed.
Jo’s diet would consist of six pieces of toast with peanut butter for breakfast, pie, a tub of ice cream and a block of chocolate by lunch, and meat and potatoes for dinner
Jo (pictured with her son) was gaining about 20 kilos a year, and soon ‘everything was a struggle’, from walking to the car to rolling over in bed
‘It limited my mobility and breath, and I sweated a lot,’ she said. ‘I had to sit down while walking because my breathing would increase and I was just so heavy.’
Things got so bad that Jo, who lives in Mangawhai, would go to bed every night worried that she could have a heart attack and die.
But everything changed when Jo’s son Ashar, now six, suffered a 45-minute seizure in June 2016. It was a massive turning point.
‘I didn’t realise until my son got sick and I nearly watched him die that I was doing the exact same thing to him,’ Jo said.
‘I realised I had to put myself in the front position for awhile so that I could be there for him. And that’s when all the goals started to come through.’
Jo did a 12-week intensive phase of meal replacement shakes and lost 36 kilos, continuing the shakes for another couple months.
She also started exercising on a 120-step climb near her home, doing Zumba, and ‘walking loads’ around her property.
But everything changed when Jo’s son Ashar, now six, suffered a 45-minute seizure in June 2016. It was a massive turning point for the mum
‘I didn’t realise until my son got sick and I nearly watched him die that I was doing the exact same thing to him,’ Jo said
Jo decided to lose 50 kilos before joining a fitness center because she was too heavy for some of the equipment, and eventually found a home at a CrossFit-style gym.
She began doing two classes a day, as well as boxing, powerlifting, and working with a personal trainer.
But the hardest change for Jo was telling her mind that she could change her body.
‘I had to constantly keep telling myself “It’s just food, it has no control over you”‘, Jo said.
‘Your mind is as powerful as your body, and you need to be in control of it if you want to change.’
Jo pushed through with the help of Ashar, her ‘main motivator’, as well as a group of friends at the gym who were constantly inspiring each other.
Jo did a 12-week intensive phase of meal replacement shakes and lost 36 kilos and continued the shakes for another couple months before switching to lean meats and protein bars
There were also the little moments that gave Jo confidence in her ability to change, such as when she was able to carry her niece up the stairs one day.
She joined a gym and put a treadmill and punching bag in her home (pictured here with her son Ashar)
‘I said “I can’t do this” and she said to me “You’ve got this”, Jo recalled. ‘It was confirmation that the voice in my head needed to change for me to believe in myself.’
As Jo was teaching her mind and body to work as a team, she was falling in love with boxing.
‘I just love that my body moves in that kind of way,’ she said. ‘It just kind of naturally did from the start and wasn’t hard for me to pick up.’
‘You’re so connected to your body. It’s not just about throwing your fists around, but your mind helping your body conquer something.’
Jo shed 87 kilos in 12 months, and lost an additional 4 kilos on Monday after having surgery to remove excess skin.
She decided to have the surgery as the skin was getting in the way of doing exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, and burpees, and because it was the last thing ‘weighing her down’.
‘I had a new body and a new mind, but I had a constant reminder sagging off my hips that was still in the way,’ Jo said.
‘It was a constant reminder of the damage I had done to myself for 30 years, and I didn’t feel I deserved that anymore.’
o shed 87 kilos in 12 months, and lost an additional 4 kilos on Monday after having surgery to remove excess skin (pictured)
Jo was able to afford the surgery after a local woman who had followed her journey and knew about her son donated $40,000, only asking that she remain anonymous.
After she is done healing Jo will get back to her regular fitness routine, which involves exercising 12 hours every week.
Jo also has plans to become a personal trainer and hopes to help people who weigh 100 kilos and above.
Jo said she can now take her son to the park and beach after shedding the weight
‘I want to help people that were like me,’ she said. ‘I’ve been there and I know how hard it is and I know the excuses.’
‘They just want someone there telling them “you can do it”, and I know how to do that because I did it. I know how good it feels.’
Jo said her life has changed in ‘every single way’ since she shed half her body weight.
‘My mind is where it’s changed the most,’ she said. ‘I believe in myself now and know that I’m capable of doing things.’
‘I can lift 100 kilos, I can jog a 5K, I can play with my son and catch my son, I can pull my car seat forward and sit behind the steering wheel of a car.’
And Jo believes the weight loss has also made her a better mum.
‘My son can’t tell me he’s seen a difference in me, but I know he has,’ she said. ‘He’s happier because we go out more.’
‘When I was big I didn’t go anywhere, I stayed at home. I didn’t take him to the beach and if I took him to the park it was a secluded park so no one would look at me.’
‘He didn’t get a good chance to explore but now he gets to explore everything. It’s easy now, my whole life. I’ve got a really good life now.’