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Aussie woman lost 24kg by eating more
Meet the exercise coach who used to be petrified of the gym but has now discovered a passion for weightlifting that has helped her shed 24kg despite increasing her daily kilojoule intake.
Exercise physiologist and transformation coach Georgie Thomas, from Adelaide, has always been interested in the human body. But having insufficient knowledge of nutrition and health meant that she didn’t realise how unhealthy her lifestyle was.
“I definitely had a lack of education of nutrition and I was not aware of health," Georgie said. "For so long I didn’t even realise how bad I was until I would see pictures of myself and just feel sick."
“My upbringing definitely wasn’t filled with healthy food, there was a lot of takeaways and food very high in carbohydrates with minimal exercise."
Eating high-carb takeaways led Georgie to reach her peak weight of 82kg. A size 14, she used to consume 5,000kj per day – mostly from unhealthy food.
One day, though, Georgie realised how ill she felt and wanted to feel confident, so she found weightlifting and shrunk down to a slender 58kg and a size eight.
Interestingly enough, however, Georgie didn't have to reduce her calorie intake. In fact, she now eats 6,700kj to 7,500kj worth of healthy food each day – around a third more than she used to.
“I tried so many programmes and I played around with high protein, low carbohydrates, I crash dieted then fell into vicious cycles of relapsing because they were so hard and unrealistic," she said.
“It wasn’t until three years ago that I really learnt about nutritional cleansing, intermittent fasting, using the right supplements with whole foods to fuel your body and actually nourish your body rather than depleting it.
“You don’t have to fear carbohydrates, girls.”
Georgie said she spent years living in fear of having to exercise.
“I was petrified of the gym; completely embarrassed to work out in front of anyone," she said. “It was just so hard for me and I couldn’t think of anything worse than working out. I would look in the mirror and hate what I saw.
“I was so sick of always feeling down and upset by it. It literally took over my life; every time I ate, I would feel guilty and I never wanted to go out because any outfit I put on made me feel horrible."
Her body anxiety was so consuming, she refused to even wear shorts.
“I hated summer because I never wanted to be seen in a swimsuit; I would compare myself to others and whenever people were at a pool party or at a beach I would stay clothed," Georgie said.
“I could never wear shorts because my legs would rub together. I’ve deleted so many photos from when I was younger, I was just so ashamed of who I was.
“I tore up any old photos from old cameras from back in the day and I didn’t want to associate myself with that person.
“I just wanted to feel good and confident. I wanted to be comfortable in my own skin and to be happy. I never had that before and knew it was up to me."
Georgie is now exercising five days a week and lifting weights, while eating more.
“There is a confidence in me now that is just unshakeable, knowing that I have lost the weight I have and feel the way I do now literally makes me feel like I can do anything in life,” Georgie said.
“But it’s even the small things, I freaking love summer now; bring on denim shorts, bring on bikinis. There is honestly no better feeling.
“Trust me we all still have our days where we feel off but I just need to remind myself how far I have come.”
While she has a new-found confidence, Georgie said process of weaning off indulging in the food she would eat before was difficult for her, as well as having the courage to join a gym.
“I am a normal chick; I love wine, I love chips, I love the occasional double cheeseburger. So, not eating delicious food all the time was hard for me,” she said.
“Pushing myself to exercise was hard when I sucked at it and actually believing in myself that I can do this.
“Sometimes you have to remember what your goals are and believe in yourself more than anyone else would.
“I remember telling my ex-boyfriend that I was going to lose 20kg and he laughed at me," she said. "In my head I was like ‘OK challenge accepted, watch me.’"
Additional reporting by Australscope.
