Ana’s Health Gain Story
Meet Ana, a 43-year-old Brazilian Marketing Manager working and living in Dublin, Ireland. While she has always been highly successful in her career and personal life, her struggles with weight gain — and keeping it off — have alluded her.
Ana wanted to share her Beyondbmi story because, as she put it, “Beyondbmi has been a life-changing experience”. She has been on her Beyondbmi journey for over 8 months now. She has gone from 108 kilos to 90 kilos. Her clothing size has changed from 22 to 16. From the support team that has rallied around her, to new health gains, she has a great deal of happy news to share.
A Family That Showed Love and Happiness Through Food
In Ana’s family, food is love. “I come from a family in which everyone is obese,” she says. “We use food as an escape if we are sad, as a reward, and to celebrate when we are happy.” But her realisation about her weight-related issues didn’t hit home until a couple of years ago. She first noticed the physical impact of carrying excess weight in her forties.
“I first noticed the physical impact of carrying excess weight in my 40’s. I started having pain in my back, I was out of breath when going upstairs. I had skin issues under skin folds as a result of weight. Everything was becoming more difficult”
“I reached my highest weight. And then I started to have pain in my back, I was out of breath when going upstairs. Everything was becoming more difficult,” Ana says. In addition to back and joint pain, she also had issues with irritation under new skin folds, and with incontinence. She was surprised to see those problems surface at her age, and also watched as her mother struggled with advanced versions of those same issues at 65.
Dieting also did not work as a preventative measure. Ana dieted in her twenties but struggled to commit. “I’d be on a diet, but if you offered me chocolate, I would still have happily said yes. The diet was forgotten in two seconds.” Even when a diet seemingly worked, she found herself celebrating with more food.
Ana also worked with dietitians and nutritionists but she always abandoned those programs halfway through. She says these efforts didn’t work because they didn’t connect with her emotionally, or motivate her the way she needed to be motivated.
“I always abandoned dietary programmes halfway through because the diets alone didn’t connect with me emotionally. Beyondbmi attracted me immediately because it wasn’t a diet. It was a science-centred plan”
Finally, A Whole-Self Solution With Beyondbmi
Ana knew something had to change. Beyondbmi attracted her immediately because it wasn’t a diet. Instead, Beyondbmi’s experts offered a science-centred plan for improving her health.
“When I first found Beyondbmi, what I looked at was that support network. The health coaches, the dietitians, the doctors, and the medications,” Ana states. Ana didn’t feel the same “make-or-break” pressure she felt while dieting. She says it gave her the confidence to keep moving forward. “There were backup plans. If something didn’t work, the team was ready with something else to try until a good fit was found.”
She also explains that working with Beyondbmi is centred around gaining health, not losing kilos. So while weight loss may be part of the net gain of the program, it is not the primary focus. “At 43, I didn’t want to get to my fifties or sixties feeling sick and unable to do simple things like going for a walk. ”
Results with Beyondbmi
The results for Ana with Beyondbmi have been nothing short of life-altering. It has changed the way she feels about herself, she explains, tearing up.
“I have more energy. I feel more beautiful. I feel I am in control of my life.”
She says that now instead of rewarding herself with food, she might go out and get a new top or outfit to celebrate. Her reward mechanism is changing as her confidence grows.
Ana is also seeing the world. While working with Beyondbmi, she travelled, attended weddings and went back home to Brazil for a visit. Without food as a focus, she didn’t build an itinerary around restaurants this time — instead, she and her partner were able to enjoy sightseeing and spending time on the beach.
“I used to reward myself with food. Since doing the Beyondbmi programme, I go out and buy myself a new top because I feel more confident in myself”
Her favourite part of the service, she says, is what she is learning every single day from health experts. She is learning how to eat in a way that helps her to lose excess fat in a sustainable way while retaining muscle mass. She can reach out to Beyondbmi Support Team at any time with questions. She says no one has ever taken the time to teach her the why behind obesity and the science behind why she has struggled with weight until now.
Ana is not alone in her experience. Cathie also shared her Beyondbmi success story with us, and we want to write your story next. Check your eligibility here to join the Beyondbmi program.
