A Junk Food Addict Transformed Into A Lifelong Wellness Warrior
In this episode, I caught up with Candice Charles to talk about how her weight loss and wellness journey has been in the 12 months since she’s had her bariatric surgery, a life-changing experience she shared with her husband, Andrew. Candice dived deep into how she turned her addiction to sugar, using the support she has intentionally placed around her to achieve her transformation, and becoming the healthy person she is now, thriving every day with an active, and fit lifestyle, both mentally and physically.
Show Notes:
1:35 – Candice starts the conversation about the common struggle with eating unhealthy foods due to convenience, taking us back to how it all started for her from a young age and carried through to her adulthood, causing social anxiety and how she had always felt very down emotionally and not ready to make that change.
4:55 – Candice recalled her addiction to junk food, in particular with sugar and how it made her feel. Her mental struggles and shame were the key points that led to junk food addiction.
8:35 – As the health issues started to pile up for Candice, such as high blood pressure, sleep apnoea, she had to sleep with a CPAP machine, her hormones were out of balance and thyroid problems occurred which all contributed to further complications when dealing with her mental health challenges, like depression and social anxiety. She wasn’t comfortable. This is when she had to draw a line in the sand and made the life-changing decision to break her addiction.
12:53 – We talked about the incredible transformation that Candice has had and looked back at all her health issues that have completely disappeared including thyroid problems, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure, diabetes risks, and mental health challenges.
15:46 – After reaching her goal weight, Candice plans to participate in the 10km Gold Coast Marathon event. She will focus more on strengthening her body as she is no longer feeling lethargic and wakes up with more energy than ever before.
17:50 – Candice was not alone in this life-changing journey, embarking on it with her husband, just like teammates. No longer feeling ashamed or embarrassed, they find themselves getting outdoors and socialising more.
19:40 – We discussed the bias on people having weight loss surgery, how Candice is learning to eliminate the negativity around her and turning her focus on the outpouring of support from the community.
21:19 – One of the reasons why both Candice and her husband, Andrew, decided to go on this wellness journey, was to start a family. She shared her personal experience of exploring IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) and how she needed to lose weight in order to be suitable for IVF treatment.
24:08 – Candice had fears triggered by how her family and friends feel about her post weight loss surgery. But once she let go of that fear to make that change, she was able to have good mental clarity which resulted in improvements in her work and lifestyle.
27:29 – It is important to take care of yourself, including financially investing in your wellbeing.
29:18 – Wellness can have different meanings to each individual. For Candice, it’s about being physically and mentally active, with the ability to push herself to do more than ever before. This weight loss journey has helped her remove the fears she has lived with and enabled her to pursue a life of wellness.
