My Number One Rule Is That Everything I Do,I Do For Myself

Anwyn Hawkings tells us about her journey to better health.

- Kristen Birch

'Obesity runs in my family. My mom’s weight yo-yos; my dad weighed 150kg by the age of 19; my uncle had a gastric bypass… There are weight issues on both sides of the family.

When I was in Grade 2 I was molested. That was my weight watershed: after that, I began to put on a lot of weight.

I feel as if I have dieted on and off for most of my life: Herbalife, Weight Watchers, even starvation. Still, it comes as a shock when you ‘see’ yourself as really fat for the first time. For me it happened when I received the photographs of my graduation ceremony in April last year: I was appalled to see how big I looked.

My mom’s friend had lost 15kg on the Banting eating plan and, mostly wanting to please my parents, I gave it a try.

I wasn’t in the right frame of mind: I wasn’t doing it for myself. I lost a bit of weight, but hated the diet, so I stopped. And put the weight back on. My mom’s friend then lent me