Kelly’s 15kg Story of Courage & Determination #153
“I joined Kim Beach in January 2018 with my sister, Michelle, who has been my rock throughout many chapters of my story. To tell my story I need to go back a little. Firstly, I need to acknowledge that I have always struggled with my weight since early teens and have spent most of my adult life on one diet or another with varying degrees of short term success. But never happy or confident in myself.
In February 2016 my weight issues became irrelevant as at the age of 41, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The rest of that year was consumed with treatments – bilateral mastectomy followed by 6 months of chemotherapy and then hormonal therapy. The treatments left me completely depleted. Side effects included: severe lethargy; loss of muscle tone and strength; peripheral neuropathy in my hands and severe nerve pain. The severity of these side effects eventually ended my treatment early as there was a probability some may become permanent.
At this point, my energy levels were no existent, my strength so poor that I couldn’t walk up my ten front steps. With chemotherapy now finished, 2017 was spent in recovery mode mentally, physically and spiritually. I was still in a lot of pain and struggling to try and get back to “normal”. I was so scared that this was to become my new “normal”.
My lifestyle had become very sedentary and I had gained a lot of weight. The chemotherapy and the hormonal treatment had brought on early menopause and all of its symptoms. I made a very personal decision to stop my hormonal treatment which was blocking the estragon to help prevent the cancer coming back or feeding any cancer cells that may have survived the chemotherapy. With this decision came a responsibility to do the best I could for myself. I wanted to be the healthiest version of me. ENTER Kim Beach’s Program!
The program was recommended to me by a friend who was getting great results with both weight loss and well-being. I looked into the program and loved that it was simple, well balanced whole foods – clean eating. The exercise was, I admit, very daunting as I was very unfit and still carrying some post-cancer pain issues, even though it had eased somewhat after stopping the hormone therapy. My motivation to start this program was not so much weight loss, although I knew this was important, but my health and well-being was the priority.
I started and concentrated mainly on the food and adapted the exercise to suit my fitness. The first week was HARD! Detoxing was not pleasant but after this the energy and mental clarity I started to regain I never thought would be possible again. Now I have completed 16 week of Kim’s program, although I am still a work in progress, my health and well-being is the best it has been in a long time. My regular medical checks show liver function, cholesterol and inflammation markers are all better than they have ever been. The side effects which we feared were permanent have all but disappeared (including menopause symptoms). As a bonus I have lost 15kg and feel so much more positive about my life ahead.
I am becoming the best version of me and have worked hard to achieve this with the help and support of my sister Michelle, the wonderful women in the Kim beach community and the Kim Beach Team. As the Beach Fit Team says ‘When women support and help each other, magic happens…!’ I am so grateful for this program. Now I have my life back and I run up my ten front steps in high spirits.
Kelly x”
Kelly you are one amazing lady, it was so lovely meeting you! Your smile and your energy creates such a positive vibe around you that is contagious! Keep going strong, I am so proud of you xx
