ROBYN Power was shocked when she realised she was drinking 50 teaspoons of sugar a week.
Ten bottles of soft drink were consumed in her house each fortnight, as well as a lot of juice.
So when she saw TV ads for the VicHealth H3O Challenge, she realised she needed to make some drastic changes.
“It’s scary when you break it down,” Ms Power said.
“Even unsweetened pineapple juice has 10 grams of sugar.”
She also had two extra-special reasons for cutting back her sugar intake – her 11-month-old daughter Matilda and a second wedding anniversary vintage plane flight with her husband Josh.
“I have to be less than 100 kilograms to do it,’’ she said. “I just want to do something with my husband for once.”
Ms Power weighed 112 kilograms on February 1 and is now down to 107kg, mainly by swapping soft drink for water.
She has also given up takeaway food and is having a daily treadmill workout.
She also wants to be an active mother to Matilda.
“I don’t want to be one of those mums who sit on the sidelines; I really want to change.”
Ms Power aims to lose a kilogram a week to get under the 100kg mark, but said her goal weight was 80kg.
“I’ve done this much in 28 days, so I just want to keep going,’’ she said.
“If I can do this, then I also hope I can motivate other people.’’
Ms Power said she was amazed by the money she had saved by not buying soft drink or takeaway, and was keen to spend some of her savings on a new wardrobe.
“I’m sick of going into clothes shops and being ignored. I walk out nearly crying sometimes.”
The 35-year-old said she was also keen to cut health risks associated with being overweight, including diabetes and high blood pressure.
“Josh motivates me as much as he can.
“I increase my distance on the treadmill by 100 metres each day and I’ll send him pictures of how far I’ve gone.”
Ms Power now drinks five 600-millilitre bottles of water a day and keeps a two-litre bottle in her home fridge.
“I want to get up in that plane, reach a goal and do something I’ve never done before,’’ she said.
“There’s a lot of things you can do when you’re overweight, but there’s a lot of things you can’t.”
fiona.henderson@fairfaxmedia.com.au
