These women are all ordinary South Africans who made minor changes to their lifestyles and diets, and not only lost weight but transformed their lives.
They all had one thing in common – they believed that they could do it, and so can you!
Natalie Ford's story
Natalie Ford lost 20kg in 5 months. This is her story:
I used to dread summer because that meant being outside, wearing costumes (heat that makes me sweat), with my thighs chafing and hurting . . . and the beach.
I was also a type 2 diabetic for eight years – purely because of my size – and I couldn’t sleep at night because of stress.
I had serious health issues, including a tumour on my adrenal gland, and every day I felt like my body and I were fighting.
Read: How I lost weight – part 1
This is when I realised I had to do something. I decided to follow in a friend’s footsteps and adopted a Paleo style of eating, recommended on the online group SleekGeek.
I found it very challenging at first, as I basically had to change my relationship with food. But this was how I not only managed to lose weight, but also learned to make food interesting and keep it "clean".
The reason I stuck with it, though, is that after only a few days I started feeling wonderful!
I promised myself I would never go back to how I felt before. It’s been a huge help that my husband and I are doing this together and that we don’t cook different food for the kids. I didn’t realise how terrible I was feeling until I started feeling so good.
Since 1 May 2014, I'm down three dress sizes. But I have thrown away the scale because I decided not be ruled by numbers.
What continues to motivate me now is how I feel . . . and that is stronger, sexier and happier than I've felt in years.
For more of our weight-loss series read Tamsyn Strydom's story in How I lost weight - part 3.
Previous weight-loss successes:
I lost 76 kg on the Adventure Bootcamp programme
I lost over 100kg on the Weigh-Less programme
Lose weight the Darren Scott way
Get fit by dancing, Riaan says