A super-slimmer told how losing eight stone inspired her to become a fitness instructor to help other mums get their mojo back.
Vikki McNamara, from Dublin, admitted her focus was being a stay at home mum and she had lost herself in baggy tops and velour leggings.
The 47-year-old said: “I struggled with my weight throughout my teens and shopped in a store specifically for the ‘larger lady’ for my 21st.
“I tried every diet that surfaced, losing a stone or two and then putting it back and more.”
The former barber said she was happy to give up work to stay at home with her two children.
She added: “I was putting everything into being a mum and I was blissfully happy, I just blocked out how I felt completely.”
At her heaviest Vikki said she was 19 stone but she stopped weighing herself at that point admitting she was probably 24 stone at her biggest.
The scales were a constant source of despair.
She said: “I’d wake up feeling great then get on the scales and feel awful.
“You shouldn’t let the numbers define you, if you’re feeling good about yourself you’ll look good.
“My mum said it was upsetting watching me, we’d go grocery shopping and she was sad that I didn’t care about myself.
“I’d buy something in the shop not because I liked it but just because I was relieved if it fitted.”
Aches and pains in her joints due to her weight gain was a constant reminder that something had to change.
She said: “I remember coming down the stairs with my tiny baby one day and the pain in my knees.”
Vikki managed to lose four stone following Weightwatchers and Slimming World plans but discovering pole fitness was the game-changer.
She said: “Then I was 13 stone and I thought I’d try pole fitness.
“After doing the class I had a new admiration for people who had this strength and flexibility.
“It led on to other things from anti-gravity to yoga and aerial hoop.”
After a year or two, at 35, Vikki decided to train to be a fitness instructor with LAB fitness.
She said: “Exercise to music was my first qualification and everything I did after that was a different qualification, zumba and Meta fit, it would have been the first type of HIIT training in Ireland.”
Becoming a fitness trainer and setting up feelgoodfitnesswithvikki on her social media channels has enabled her to help other women, struggling to find themselves.
She said: “There were so many women just like me who lost themselves a little or a lot, as they gave their all in becoming a mum and I knew I could show them hope.
“It’s opened a whole new way of life for me, my mindset is so much more positive now and I look forward to working out each day with all the wonderful women in our fitness group.”
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