How Obese Mum Went From Fat to Slim Within the Confines of Her Own Living Room

An obese mum was motivated to lose half her body weight after the death of a close friend that shocked her into reclaiming her health. 35-year-old Tara Kavanagh tipped the scales at 21 stone and she did it all in her living room using her treadmills.

The stay-at-home mum started running on the treadmill between 2-4 hours every day while watching TV at home and lost 10 stones in a year. Now she is a trimmed 11-stones mom and hopes to coach others too.

Tara from Rapid City, South Dakota told MirrorsUK that her weight problem after she learnt how to drive. She said she was always hitting up fast food restaurants and going out to eat late at night with friends.

She disclosed:

“Looking back, most everything I ate was processed and packaged in some way. When I first started losing weight I made a deal with myself that I could only watch TV if I was walking on the treadmill, even if I wasn’t walking very fast.

I burnt out three treadmill motors that way but it definitely helped me lose weight because I used to watch a lot of TV. It took me a year and a half to lose 145 lbs and I did it all in my living room on my treadmill and doing at home DVDs.

I don’t let my size hold me back from doing things I want to try anymore. I’ve done some amazing things I would have never been able to when I was bigger, like skydiving, swimming in the ocean, traveling, going to yoga retreats, hiking with my family and more.”

Tara’s weight issues started early on in life as she battled with emotional eating. Her favourite foods while growing up were macaroni and cheese, double cheeseburgers, and any baked goods. Tara confesses her love for baking and how she made cookies all the time.

However she acknowledged that being overweight runs in her family which made her think she was destined to be big all of her life. Unfortunately, the obese issue affected her social life and left her battling with mental health problems. She said:

“I was never very active and was a big emotional eater, so that also was a big factor in my weight gain over the years. Food was what I looked forward to. It made me feel good. Being overweight was always on my mind.
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It held me back from doing activities with friends, trying new things, even going to school. I had terrible depression and anxiety from worrying about my weight. I avoided social situations as much as possible and declined offers to do fun things because I was ashamed of my size.”

Revealing more of her feelings when she was obese, Tara said she felt she was just existing and not really living a life. The turning point came when a close friend passed away and Tara felt the urgent need to reevaluate her lifestyle.

She concluded by saying that It made her realise life was short and we never know when our time is up. Tara who went all emotional and teary-eyed while speaking to Mirrors said:

“I didn’t want to die young from obesity related problems. I wanted to be a good example for them and be an active, healthy mum. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life being miserable about my weight and worrying about my health.”

But back then I would have never believed I would look and feel like this. It definitely makes me want to help others to realize there is hope and you can always take control of your health, even if you think it’s impossible.”

Tara wants all obese mothers to know that the smallest change can make a huge difference, One just has to start somewhere and the outcome will be superb!

Photo credit: MirrorsUK