Although Sheryll Ferrier had felt a nagging dissatisfaction about her weight for some years, it was actually her husband’s decision to get into shape that made her begin her own weight-loss journey. Just six months later, Sheryll is 13kg lighter, a master chef in the kitchen and she’s pretty fast on a pair of rollerblades, too.
Sheryll, a devoted mum of two girls Jess, 8, and 3-year-old Kasey says, “I had been feeling overweight and unhappy with my size for some time, but it wasn’t until my 34th birthday was looming that I decided to finally do something about it, not just for me, but for my daughters – I wanted them to be proud of me and not embarrassed.”
Around the same time, Sheryll’s husband, Neil, had decided that he wanted to break from his regular job and start his own plumbing business. “Neil had decided that he wanted to lose some weight before he started out on his own and he wanted to do it with The Biggest Loser Club. I thought, ‘I could join him – why not?’”
Healthier versions
Once she had signed up, Sheryll started to get to know the features of the site and felt positive from day one. Over the coming weeks she learned more and more about food and drinks, and the calories they contain. It soon became second nature to check food labels and choose low-fat, low-sugar versions of the foods that she and her family love.
“I began to experiment with recipes from The Club site and the whole family gave big thumbs up to dishes like the pizza and stir-frys, which are now firm favourites,” says Sheryll. “I also began to swap lower-fat versions of fatty foods to make up old favourites like quiche – out with the full-fat milk and cream and in with low-fat dairy.”
Sheryll became a whizz at weighing and measuring foods, and this helped her learn about portion sizes. Sheryll says, “It wasn’t a diet that we all adopted, it was a lifestyle change that we all made. For the first time, I learned about food and I began to understand how it works. After about eight weeks, I felt really confident,” she says.
All together now
A self-confessed exercise dodger, Sheryll always claimed that she didn’t have time for exercise. She convinced herself that she was no good at it and that she hated the gym. Sheryll explains, “I decided that if I was going to exercise, it was going to be on my own terms. I wanted it to be as easy for me as possible so I started with walking. I could do that and I enjoyed it. I had friends who also liked to do it. It worked!”
Sheryll bought a new fitness game for her console and did a couple of sessions each week, plus the whole family dusted off their bikes and began to go riding together. Sheryll says, “Other than losing weight, part of the whole process that I loved most was reconnecting with my husband and doing activities with the kids, like going out for family bike rides.”
“My husband was a huge support to me. He would eat whatever I would prepare; he would encourage me after a bad week and celebrate with me when I had a good week. He even bought me rollerblades. I used these to push my youngest daughter in her pram – trying to rollerblade whilst you’re going uphill is quite a challenge, believe me,” says Sheryll.
Bring on the vegies
A typical day now starts with cereal and milk followed by a snack of fruit, usually an apple or a banana, and then a sandwich for lunch. Sheryll used to avoid vegies at all costs but now, “I love my vegetables. I measure my meat or chicken and then pile on the vegies. Afterwards, I go for a walk and then come back and have a cup of tea with my indulgence – two scotch finger biscuits.”
When she joined The Club, Sheryll weighed 68kg. She now weighs 54.7kg, going from a size 14 to a size 8 in six months. That’s a weight loss of 13.3kg, or 19.6 percent of her starting body weight.
“I have been successful this time because I decided I deserved to be healthy and happy. To see that my plan was working gave me all the encouragement I needed and then I just kept at it. I don’t have to rely on anyone else with my Club plan. I can do it independently and therefore this will stay with me for life,” she says.
“I am very proud of my achievements and when people comment on it and say that they too need to lose weight, my advice is to do it on your own terms. It has to be for you. Make it achievable – if you just want to learn about calories and do the minimum amount of exercise, fine. Start there. I did and it worked for me.” It also worked for Neil who has lost 10kg and now looks, “athletic,” according to Sheryll.
What Sheryll’s loves most is that she now feels confident she has the tools to ensure her young daughters grow up to enjoy eating well and discover just how much fun healthy living can be.