Until about a year ago, Belinda Holloway-Laws thought her eating habits were pretty healthy.
She wasn’t drinking litres of soft drink or eating huge amounts of sweets — her typical day would involve sandwiches for lunch and pasta for dinner.
Yet the mother of 10 found herself gaining 20 kilograms per year, to the point where she weighed 163kg.
Speaking to Today Extra this morning, the 35-year-old explained she was simply eating excessive amounts of foods she’d believed to be good for her.
Image: Today Extra (still/Channel 9)
"Lots of milk, carbs, bread, pasta. I had no idea ... my portions were really wrong. I'd have so much milk, but I thought, 'Milk's really healthy, it's fine' and it's not always the case," she told hosts Sonia Kruger and David Campbell.
Eleven months on, Holloway-Laws has lost 83 kilograms and 70 centimetres from her waist, taking her from clothing size 28 to size 12.
Rather than having surgery or completely overhauling her life, it all came down to two very simple lifestyle tweaks.
"It's rather boring, but I gave up carbs and sugar. Yes, that means no potato, no bread, no milk, no rice," she explained in a Facebook post.
Though she admits it was hard at first, she stresses that she's not following a strict 'diet' and hasn't felt like she's going without.
"Low carb at first is awful. You get a 'carb flu' — fluey symptoms, headache, nausea... after that it's just sheer willpower and eventually you just shy away from those foods," she wrote.
These days, Holloway-Laws' diet revolves around "amazing food" including meat, cheese, vegetables like cabbage, zucchini, squash, broccoli and celery, and fruits like blueberries and strawberries.
Before the Campbelltown mum addressed her diet, she'd been working on increasing her level of exercise.
Watch: The amount of sugar in your favourite drinks might surprise you. (Post continues after video.)
At first, she began swimming and walking; then she went a step further by signing up to a local gym and finding a local personal trainer to show her how to use weights. Now her weekly routine involves going to the gym six times, training with her PT twice, and completing three five kilometre walks.
For Holloway-Laws, there was no one moment that motivated her to change her lifestyle.
"It was a lot of different little things. Just realising I was not doing things, not living, I wouldn't look at myself in the mirror. I said, 'I don't like this, I need to do something'," she said on Today Extra.
There were also health concerns. Holloway-Laws tells Daily Mail Australia she was a chronic asthmatic, suffered from blood pressure problems, and was on the path to becoming a type 2 diabetic. (Post continues after gallery.)
These days, she's feeling far more positive and says that's "reflected" in her family — husband Craig and their five sons and five daughters, who are aged between 20 and three.
The couple have been together for more than 20 years and had their first child when Holloway-Laws was 15. "He's stoked. He's stoked for me, he can tell I'm very happy and that makes him very happy. I can take on a lot more," she told Kruger and Campbell.
While some people who experience considerable weight loss are left with excess or sagging skin, this hasn't been the case for Holloway-Laws.
"I'm super lucky in that I have a couple of small spots but nothing compared to what I've seen," she wrote in response to a Facebook comment.
Watch: Belinda Holloways-Laws on Today Extra this morning. (Post continues after video.)
Now, Holloway-Laws isn't actively trying to lose weight; she's focused on maintaining her weight and fitness levels.
While she went five months without "trusting" herself to indulge in treat (or "cheat") foods, she doesn't deny herself the pleasure these days.
"I'm only human. I'd marry gelato or basically any ice cream if I could!" she wrote on Facebook.
"Also, Maltesers don't hurt."
Are there any simple tweaks that have changed your life for the better?
Featured image: Today Extra still via Channel 9.
Always consult with a doctor or dietitian before making changes to your diet.
