After Sharny and Julius Kieser had their fifth child, they realized that they’d both let themselves go. Both fitness trainers had ended up gaining weight during Sharny’s last pregnancy, but instead of lying to their followers and clients about their bodies, they decided to take this opportunity to share their own weight loss experience.
This was in September. By mid-October, the couple had lost the combined 60 pounds they’d gained and realized, it doesn’t actually take that long to lose weight – but they never want to go through this experience again.
Sharny dropped from 152 pounds to 124, and Julius has dropped from 240 pounds to 202. Both are back at their usual weight after only eight weeks of dieting, and are relieved to be back to normal.
“Even a couple of kilos lighter feels so much better on my joints and back,” Sharny said. “Eating healthier has certainly improved my moods dramatically. Where previously I would have to talk myself into optimism, now I don’t have a cloud of stress.”
Now that they’ve gone through a similar experience to that of their clients, Sharny and Julius understand that the hardest part of dieting is “just starting.”
“Days 1 to 3 are like being hung over as the body detoxes and goes through withdrawals,” Sharny described. Even for a fitness trainer like Julius, who knew he had to lose the weight, this “withdrawal” lasted an entire week.
Both trainers also talked about reaching weight plateaus, where they weighed the same for a few days in a row. This is what happens when you develop “squishy fat.”
“Basically, the body uses the fat from the cells, but keeps the cells open with water, so you weigh the same and look the same, the only difference is your fat feels squishier,” Sharny explained.
“Many people call this a plateau and quit their weight loss, but if you just persist and trust, the body eventually flushes the water out of those cells and you have a quite a remarkable change from day to day.”
Now armed with a better understanding of their own weight loss program and the weight loss process, Sharny and Julius are even more thrilled when they gain more followers or read people’s messages to them: “It’s truly inspiring.”
