Young retail manager sheds a staggering 63 KILOS to sculpt her dream body in less than 12 months by making simple diet and exercise tweaks
- Victoria woman Jacinta Heiden lost an incredible 63 kilos during lockdown
- She has almost halved her bodyweight since the pandemic began in early 2020
- The Melbourne retail manager started her journey at 128kg, now weighs 65kg
An Australian woman who lost 63 kilos during consecutive Covid lockdowns has revealed how her new physique has transformed her outlook on life.
Jacinta Heiden, from Melbourne, has almost halved her bodyweight since the pandemic began in early 2020 by working on her fitness while Victorians were largely housebound by lockdowns.
The retail manager, 28, who started her journey at 128 kilos and now weighs a trim 65kg, says she is now ecstatic to be the ‘happiest and healthiest’ version of herself after a year of regular exercise and calorie-controlled meals from Lite n’ Easy.
Melbourne retail manager Jacinta Heiden tipped the scales at 128 kilos (left) and now weighs a trim 65 kilos (right) after a year of working on her fitness
At her heaviest, Ms Heiden suffered from exhaustion and intense joint pain which began to affect her performance at work.
Her weight also had a negative impact on her mental health.
‘I felt quite low and closed off to other people. I would just hide away and avoid socialising with friends and family,’ Ms Heiden told Daily Mail Australia.
She started her transformation by incorporating low intensity exercise into her daily routine, with walks in the morning and evening eventually accompanied by cardio sessions on her home exercise bike when her stamina increased.
‘The more I was seeing the weight coming off, the more I wanted to exercise,’ Ms Heiden said.
At her heaviest, Ms Heiden suffered from exhaustion and intense joint pain which began to affect her performance at work
She said she is now ecstatic to be the ‘happiest and healthiest’ version of herself after a year of regular exercise and calorie-controlled meals from Lite n’ Easy
Changes to her diet also played a major role.
Before starting her weight loss journey, Ms Heiden was skipping breakfast, sustaining herself on a caramel latte until she ordered a large fried rice or noodle dish from an Asian takeaway for lunch.
Her typical dinner was either a large meal from McDonald’s or Hungry Jacks, or a double serving of homemade cheesy pasta or curry.
She said she was snacking on whole bags of chips, half to a whole block of chocolate and leftovers from dinner each night.
These days, she breakfasts on a bowl of muesli with yoghurt and a black coffee before enjoying a mini meal from her Lite n’ Easy plan which is usually macaroni with cheese and vegetables.
Dinner is a larger meal of low-calorie barbecue chicken while snacks are confined to fresh fruit and a single serve of nuts.
Ms Heiden said her remarkable weight loss has given her a new lease of life and cured the social anxiety she had been struggling with for years.
‘I want to go out and enjoy my life, go to new places, have new experiences, things I never dreamed of before,’ she said.
‘I am so much happier and confident in myself and my body, it’s impossible to wipe the smile off of my face.’