From 98 kg to 64kg 'IF I CAN DO IT.ANYONE CAN!'

Overcoming years of self-doubt, emotional eating and health concerns, Donna Webb embarked on a ketogenic journey that led to her losing 34kg and finding joy.

- SHIREEN FISHER

‘I ’ve always been on the bigger side, and I always struggled with my weight,’ says Donna Webb, a claims technician from Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal. ‘I would lose weight, then put it all back on and become even bigger than before. I always pretended to be happy, but I was so uncomfortable in my own skin. When my husband and I used to go to the shops I would stay in the car because I felt so embarrassed about the way I looked. I love the beach, but I would not want to be seen in a costume. I even battled to tie my own shoelaces. I was very unhealthy, lazy and depressed.’

Donna, now 47, says things got worse during the Covid pandemic. She lost her job, became even more depressed and put on even more weight. ‘I was eating to feel better and ended up hating myself even more. I ate takeaways and drank a lot of carbonated cooldrink. And I used to drink a lot – not quite every day, but almost. I felt terrible all the time.’

Donna’s extremely high blood pressure and cholesterol affected her heart and landed her in hospital, and she suffered a mini stroke. ‘My doctor told me I needed to lose weight or my health would go from bad to worse. I was on all sorts of medications. I knew I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to live the rest of my life happy and healthy.’

Inspiration sparked one day while she was surfing the internet and saw before and after photos of women who had been on keto. ‘I wanted to be one of them. I did some research and found the Hendrik Marais page on Facebook [Keto Lifestyle®

- South Africa], and my whole life changed!’

Donna found the beginning stages daunting. ‘I did not know what macros were. Google became my friend. I wrote everything down. Once I understood the basics it became a lot easier. The support on the group is amazing: people are always willing to help. They understand; they’re on the same journey.’