Tanya’s TikTok weight loss.

When Tanya’s 16 year old daughter asked her to take part in some dance routines for TikTok, Tanya had a wake up call..

Tanya is 5ft10 and was 15st8.5lbs and a size 18.
Now, she’s 10st 2.5lbs lbs and a size 10.

Before: 

Breakfast: Pastry.

Snack: Crisps and chocolate

Lunch: Burger and chips

Dinner: Wine and a takeaway.

Snack: Pizza in bed.

Now: Lots of water.

Breakfast: Black coffee, fruit, yoghurt.

Snack: Crab sticks.

Lunch: Pasta salad.

Dinner: Sweet and sour chicken with broccoli.

Snack: Cheese and pineapple.

Tanya, 36, explains:

Five months after my fourth child was born, I was pregnant again. When Ronan arrived in December 2019, I was knocked sideways. Between Ronan and Mason, now two, I had two babies, plus Thompson, six, Austin, 12, and Tamsin, 16. I had always loved the mental and physical benefits of going running but now I had no time for myself. I wasn’t sleeping and I relied on fast food to fuel my day. Late at night, Lee, 30, and I would fall into bed exhausted and eat pizza.

I’ve never been depressed before but I felt so far from my usual self, my GP diagnosed severe postnatal depression. I cried over the simplest thing - once even crying over spilt milk. I was not me. The doctor was reluctant to put me on antidepressants and I was reluctant to take them, but in the end I took them because it felt like there was no other way out. 

I’d always loved exercise but with two babies, I didn’t have time to go running. I think that’s part of the reason I fell into such a dark place. The more weight I gained, the more I comfort ate. The bigger I got, the more unhappy I felt.

Then, in early April, with lockdown in full force and a house full of bored kids, Tamsin asked me to take part in some TikTok dances. We’ve always been so close and while I was new to this particular social media platform, I liked the way it was all about singing, dancing and having fun.

We did a few routines but when I saw those videos go live, I was horrified.

I needed to sort myself out. I could see myself and I didn’t like what I was seeing.

On 7th April I joined Slimming World. I made big changes to the way I ate and I also started exercising. The one-hour a day we were allowed out at the time wasn’t enough so I set up obstacle courses in the garden with the kids and managed to do Couch to 5k by running around the garden. We’d put music on and dance around the kitchen. We did Joe Wicks exercise classes in the morning. I made losing weight fun.

I even joined TikTok myself, so I could post videos charting my weightloss journey. It was so encouraging to see my progress each month.

Now, I’m brimming with confidence. I came off the antidepressants because I knew I didn’t need them anymore. The kids say: ‘We’ve got our happy Mummy back!’ and it’s true, I feel like myself again.