A WEIGHT OFF ME!

Cape Town mom Desiree is lighter and healthier after shedding 60kg

- ROBYN LUCAS

FOR many years food was a crutch to Desiree Pienaar, a way to deal with life’s stresses and strains. “I was addicted to food. It was a comfort,” she says.

The single mom of two recalls grabbing food from KFC after her night shift ended, then buying an extra meal to indulge in at home.

Once she arrived at her house in Ravensmead, Cape Town, where she lives with her mom and kids, she’d eat her mom’s leftovers, then on her way back to work the next evening she’d buy a burger meal at McDonald’s.

“I ate throughout my night shift,” she tells YOU.

She’d also eat hot chips and drink two to three litres of Coke a day.

At her heaviest, Desiree, a carer who looks after an elderly woman at a Welgemoed care home, weighed 135kg.

Then in 2016, Desiree came to a turning point. Her doctor warned her about her high blood pressure and told her she was in danger of having a heart attack.

Over the following year, the now-36year-old embarked on a healthy diet and exercised every day to shed the kilos.

“I felt happy and excited to do the weigh-ins. I was thrilled to see the weight falling off.

“There were many occasions I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. I just asked myself, ‘Where do I even start? How can I lose all this weight?’ ” Desiree says.

“I prayed and asked God to relieve me of this weight I’m carrying.”