Western beauty standards put pressure on women to be both slim and toned. However, for some, that just simply isn't possible. Life takes over for a lot of women, with mothers and professionals not having enough time to spend hours in the gym refining their abs and researching recipes.
However, one mom is on a one-woman mission to show that it's never too late to get your body in shape after having children.
Joanne Peters, a 42-year-old teacher from Melbourne, Australia, didn't have an active lifestyle before having her children, who are now nine and 11. After struggling with depression, she noticed herself putting on weight and decided to do something.
Feeling self-conscious and unfit, Joanna was inspired by one of her friend's recent weight loss and set up an Instagram page in order to chart her journey.
Now weighing 8st 13lbs, Joanne says that the key to her refined figure is intermittent fasting, with her eating all of her meals within an eight-hour window, forcing her body to use fat for energy.
“I was self-conscious of my body prior to weight loss. I hated feeling unfit and I knew my diet was causing problems with my skin and wasn’t helping my general health or my mood,” said Joanne.
“I was probably my harshest critic. I was sick of feeling depressed, my skin, hair and nails weren’t great and I knew I needed to clean up my diet and get fit.
“I met up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while and she had lost 10kgs since I had last seen her and looked amazing. I felt if she could do it then I could too and she encouraged me to start an Instagram account to follow some inspiring people.
“The game changer for me was intermittent fasting. It made fat loss and maintenance easy. It’s a tool, not a diet and I eat my meals within an eight-hour window most days (12-8pm).
“The reason it works so well for me is that it stops me thinking about food 24/7, eliminates all the sweet cravings that are my downfall and it forces my body to use stored fat for energy. It also has many other benefits aside from helping with weight loss.
“I prefer not to count calories and just eat as clean as I can. I believe food is medicine.
“My fitness journey really didn’t start until six years postpartum with my second. My body bounced back well given I’d taken so long to actually make a start.
“My biggest issue was that I was very weak but it didn’t take long to see improvements.”
Joanne keeps her workouts varied, with the mom lifting weights five times a week as well as going for walks at least twice a week. She uses her Instagram to share her advice to her followers, with her being keen to stress that it's never too late to get fit.
“I feel great about my body especially as I’m the fittest I’ve been in my life. People compliment me on my progress all the time and say they feel inspired knowing it’s never too late and that you can get your body back after having children,” she said.
“My advice is to focus on the food as it really is the most important factor no matter what your goals are and you need to be on top of it to make your workouts count.
“Weight training is the way to go and there are many programs to choose from which all work. Just make sure you keep pushing your body. Workouts should never become easy.”
Fair play to Joanne for showing that age is just a number. At the end of the day, it's about what how you feel rather than how you look and, as Joanna shows, it's always possible to make a change.
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