‘Takeaway addict’ mum-of-two, 39, reveals the meals she ate to lose 27kg – and she now saves $8,000 a year at the supermarket
- Mum-of-two Lauren Kolstad, 39, from NSW, revealed how she lost 27 kilos
- ‘Takeaway addict’ used to spend $250-$300 a week on groceries and takeout
- But now she spends $130-$150 and eats far healthier meals and snacks
- Lauren embraces working out with the kids, like squatting with them as weight
An ’emotional eater’ who used to waste hundreds of dollars on takeaway every week has revealed the specific meal plan that helped her to lose 27 kilograms – and she now saves $8,000 a year on groceries.
Mum-of-two and Food Safety Risk Manager Lauren Kolstad, 39, from Newcastle, NSW, said she was always a reasonably healthy and active teenager who was a national swimmer and played basketball for the state.
But when she she gave birth to her first child, it wasn’t long before she lost her good habits.
An ’emotional eater’ who used to waste hundreds of dollars on takeaway every week has revealed the specific meal plan that helped her to lose 27 kilograms (Lauren Kolstad pictured)
Before she knew it, Lauren tipped the scales at 110 kilos and found it near impossible to ‘run a few metres without feeling like I was going to spew and pass out at the same time’.
‘I struggled to run around after my son. I couldn’t do things with him that I wanted to, like take him to the park,’ Lauren told weight loss program, the Healthy Mummy.
Alongside her lack of activity, Lauren confessed her emotional eating habits were worse than ever at this time.
‘I’m a nutritionist, so I know the right things to eat, but I was not taking my own advice and was eating fast food and sugar to deal with my emotions,’ she said.
‘I am the definition of an emotional eater – you name it, I would eat because of it.’
Lauren added: ‘For most of my life, the exercise or physical activity I was doing would counterbalance this aspect of my eating, but as I got older and especially after having my son, this was less and less the case.’
She admitted she was an emotional eater who would have takeaway at least two or three times a week (pictured before, during and after her weight loss journey)
One of the things Lauren said she likes about the Healthy Mummy meals is that they can be easily adapted for everyone in her family (the various members’ meals pictured)
By the time she reached 110kg, Lauren knew something had to change and so she looked into the Australian weight loss program, the Healthy Mummy.
The plan promises real results without any quick fixes, and it’s easy and delicious to follow.
The mum-of-two replaced her weekly takeaways with meals and smoothies from the app, and the kilos quickly dropped off her.
She also started to exercise around the house – lifting kids’ toys and furniture or doing squats when she was picking up her heavy children.
‘Push-ups with added weight. Double planks with my son on top – the options were endless,’ Lauren said.
Alongside eating better, Lauren (pictured now) also said she started doing exercise wherever she could – squats with her kids, planking with her son on top and other easy moves
Lauren said her family used to spend $250-$300 a week on groceries and takeaway, but now she spends between $130 and $150, saving her $8,000 a year (groceries pictured)
Lauren’s money-saving supermarket secrets
* Shop to the specials: Buy the meat that is on special and then customise your plan to suit that particular meat.
* Repeat dinners for lunches: Bulk cook and bulk make snacks to save time and money in the kitchen.
* Reduce takeout: You can do this by bulk cooking favourite dinners like spaghetti bolognese and freezing them for when you can’t be bothered.
And the benefits weren’t only physical.
Without the expensive takeaways, the Kolstad family’s weekly shopping bill went from $250-300 a week to $130-$150:
‘That’s a saving of nearly $8,000 a year,’ Lauren said.
Typical meals for the Kolstad family now are things like overnight oats, smoothies, lamb koftas, sweet potato and veg and sausages and chicken fajitas.
‘I’m a working mum of two with a tradie husband who needs “real” food and we all eat the Healthy Mummy meals,’ Lauren said.
‘It’s been over three years now and we still love them and NEVER get bored.’
Lauren now weighs 83kg.
When it comes to being healthy but keeping costs down, Lauren said she has a few tips and tricks:
‘Shop to the specials and then customise your plan to suit,’ she said.
‘I also repeat dinners for lunches and repeat snacks multiple times a week to save time in the kitchen.’
Lauren told FEMAIL her life has completely changed since losing the weight, and she ‘loves being fit, strong and healthy’.
‘Being a positive role model for my kids is now very important to me and I love that they see me as a confident and outgoing mum.’
She added: ‘They know that exercise and healthy eating are part of taking care of yourself’.
For more information about the Healthy Mummy, please click here.
Source: Read Full Article