A 45-year-old woman who ‘couldn’t live a full life’ after hitting size 18 says she has transformed her mind and body after losing 66lbs. Jen Krauklis says she felt very depressed by her size 18 body, felt self-conscious and was plagued with aches and pains due to her weight.
After embarking on an exercise programme and overhauling her food habits, Jen has dropped from a size 18 to a size 10, losing 4st10lb (30kg) in the process and says she now feels fantastic.
“I grew up in a foodie household,” Jen, from Manchester, said. “My family always loved cooking and whenever we would have family gatherings it was always centred around food…and lots of it! As much as this was great, it also came with a downside: that was being surrounded by women in the family always wanting to lose weight and wanting to diet.
“And of course, back then ‘dieting’ was Slim Fast shakes, not eating at all or something weird like, just eat nuts all day. But when it came to exercise, no one in my family exercised. And if they did it was very short lived. I would say growing up and even up to the last several years, I viewed exercise as a form of punishment. It was used to make me as small as possible. Or, used if I ate too much food.
“I’ve always felt that exercise was never for my health, it was to make me as thin as possible because that’s how my self-worth was judged.”
Jen Krauklis, 45, felt very depressed by her size 18 body and knew that her weight was stopping her from living a full life
(Image: Jen Krauklis/Cover Images)
As Jen grew up, her relationship with her body and food didn’t improve – and in her 40s, she struggled with self-image and physical pain. “I realised my weight was getting out of control when I would look in the mirror and not recognise myself,” Jen said. “I also never wanted to be seen. I hated having photos taken of me so I would always avoid it. And all of this was affecting my mood, my confidence and my mental health in general.
“I also ended up with tendonitis in both of my hips – 45 years old and I could barely get out of a chair without feeling pain. Walking was really painful too. My knees really hurt. I remember going to see a GP about this thinking there was something seriously wrong with me. When he told me it was tendonitis I was a bit in denial as his response to fix this problem was physio, but more so, losing some weight. I felt so ashamed and like my body had betrayed me.
“How could I have let myself get to this stage? My body felt so much older than what it was, but also I didn’t love myself. I felt so low and depressed.”
Being perimenopausal made things even worse for Jen’s physical and mental health. “Perimenopause hit me hard,” she said. “At first the symptoms sort of creep up on you: body aches, irregular periods, brain fog and fatigue. But I always felt at the time, it could have been associated with other things like maybe not getting enough sleep in the first place.
“As time went by, the weight was piling on, I was becoming more tired, more irritable, I couldn’t concentrate and I was finding this really tough at work especially. My confidence felt really low, and my anxiety was through the roof.I used to have stamina at work and I would be able to juggle multiple plates.
“I could handle anything that came my way. But I was increasingly finding work to be really difficult. To the point I thought maybe I couldn’t work full time anymore. I hated my body. Rather than ever look at the positives, I only focused on the negatives.
Jen Krauklis after her weight loss journey
“Self-worth to me was judged by the number on the scale. And that is something I struggled with all my life. My weight made me feel uncomfortable, not good enough and not beautiful enough. I would always be ashamed to let people know how much I weighed.
“I would lie all the time and if something required me to reveal how much I weighed, I would avoid it. I remember years ago when I worked as Cabin Crew and being on a layover, a few of us had an opportunity to go on a cable cart experience in a rainforest.
“We had to give the operators details of all those who wanted to go as it was required for weight and balance of the carts. It would have been such an amazing experience, but I opted out as I didn’t want to reveal how much I weighed. And I worked with so many beautiful and ‘skinny’ cabin crew that I didn’t want people to think I was fat.”
Fed up and wanting to make a change, Jen began to do some online research into how she could transform her body. She signed up for a programme with body specialists Ultimate Performance, and worked with one of their trainers to overhaul her nutrition and physical fitness.
Jen said: “The programme needed me to be consistent. In the past if an exercise felt too hard or tiring, I would stop. If I felt tired or or would rather sit on the sofa and watch a film, I would make an excuse to not go to the gym.” She added: “They hold you accountable for your actions and therefore you stay consistent. Not every day is going to be perfect, and that’s OK. But by being consistent you reap the rewards in the long run. I may not have always been so kind to my body or spoke positively about it, but when you really think about it, our bodies are amazing and can do amazing things.
“As I get older, yes, things do become harder, but that is even more reason to look after myself. I don’t want to go into old age relying on people taking care of me. I want to be independent and look after myself. And the only way to do this, is to dedicate good nutrition to fuel my body so that I can exercise and keep moving in old age!
“It’s hard work – there are no two ways around it. Weight loss is hard work. If it were easy, I wouldn’t have been in the position I was in the first place! In the gym, my trainer Laurence, makes me work hard. Harder than I ever thought I could. But it’s a wonderful thing to be pushed to see what you are capable of achieving.
Jen Krauklis in the gym
“Waking up in the mornings and realising I don’t have that knee niggle is such a fabulous feeling! It’s a result of working hard in the gym. It’s a feeling that leaves you on such a high after a session. What I love about Ultimate Performance is that they cut through everything. There is no trendy diet to follow like you hear about from all the celebrities.
“They showed me what good nutrition looks like based on my lifestyle, with no generic food plan in sight.”
Jen, so far, has lost a total of 4st10lb, dropping from a size 18 to a size 10. As well as feeling brilliant physically, she says the change to her mental health is the biggest change of all. “I feel amazing now!” Jen says. “Aesthetically yes, I love the way I look and feel really proud of what I’ve achieved.
“But what it’s done for me physically and mentally is hands down the best feeling ever. I have so much more energy. I don’t have any more joint and muscle injuries. I no longer have bursitis in my hips. Even a lot of my perimenopause symptoms are much more manageable now.
Jen Krauklis in the gym
“I’m sleeping better and have much better focus on tasks. Not to mention the confidence! The confidence I have now going into tasks is much better. Sometimes I surprise myself. Laurence has added pull ups to my programme and rather than backing away or feeling like ‘I can’t do this’, instead I said ‘bring it on’.”
Jen has also enjoyed receiving compliments from friends and family about her new look. “I posted my transformation pictures online for my friends and family to see,” she adds. “I got such a huge number of lovely messages from people, even those I haven’t spoken to in a long time, contacting me to say how inspirational my transformation is and saying it has motivated them to want to start their own journey.”
Being perimenopausal made things even worse for Jen’s physical and mental health
She said: “When your trainer is excited for your session and is excited about your progress, you can’t help but be excited too. And that excitement makes you want to work hard. It’s powerful!
“It’s the best investment you will ever make. You only have one body. Take care of it, nurture it, love it.”