For most people, sweet treats like chocolate and pastries are an occasional treat to be enjoyed responsibly. However, for Queensland resident Natalie Hicks, unhealthy foods took over her life and caused her to balloon up to 280 pounds as she relied on food for comfort and stress relief. After an intervention from her mother and sister (both of whom are nurses), Natalie switched to the ketogenic diet, dropping both her unhealthy relationship with food along with over 120 pounds! Today, she proudly rocks both a slimmer figure and a more positive and healthy outlook on life.
A family affair
When she hit her heaviest weight of 280 pounds, Natalie Hicks was sat down by her mother and sister, both of whom are qualified nurses, for a food intake intervention. They had noticed that Natalie had started to pack on the pounds by filling her plate with carb-heavy foods and massive portions of potato chips, white bread, and tubs of ice cream. Natalie's family members warned her that, if she did not cut back and change her eating habits, she would see serious health complications later in life.
This intervention was a turning point for Natalie. After taking a long and hard look in the mirror, she decided that this lifestyle was not working for her. Today, Natalie attributes the beginning of her weight-loss journey to this tough love from her mother and sister and says that it was this meeting that inspired her to switch from a diet packed with potatoes and pizzas to one focused on filling fats and proteins.
An unhealthy relationship with food
Hicks confessed in an interview with The Daily Star that one of the biggest problems that impeded her weight was her unhealthy relationship with food. As a self-admitted “emotional eater,” Natalie needed to completely change her relationship with food if she wanted to see a lifestyle change that would last.
Emotional eating is a problem that many women suffer from, and being an emotional eater can cause weight loss to be impossible to achieve. Emotional eating involves seeing food not as a source of fuel, but instead as a comfort that can be used to improve your emotional state. Studies have shown that emotional eaters have a tendency to crave the instant mood-boosting effects of fatty and sugary treats like chocolate.1
When you see food as an instant cure-all to life's struggles as Natalie did, weight loss becomes significantly more difficult. Thankfully, after an intervention from her mother and sister, Hicks quickly realized that one of the obstacles separating her from a healthier lifestyle was her relationship with food.
“I’ve got a really good relationship with food now, I'm at a healthy state where I can eat and exercise and not feel guilty for eating something that you would classify as naughty or junk food.”
Keto saves the day
Natalie chose to follow the ketogenic diet to fix her unhealthy relationship with food and experienced amazing success. With a newfound determination, this amazing Aussie ditched the sweets that she had so heavily relied on cold turkey, transitioning to a low-carb diet that filled her plate with nutritious, vitamin-rich, and protein-packed choices. Natalie has also ditched her sweatpants and afternoons on the couch and picked up a pair of running shoes, working with a personal trainer six days a week.
Today, Natalie is fitter and healthier than ever, having lost over 120 pounds through keto and exercise. She has even managed to reverse her fatty liver through her improved eating habits. The 24-year-old is continuing to watch her health, and hopes to make even more strides towards living a better lifestyle with every meal and workout!
NUTRITIONAL DISCLAIMER
The content on this website should not be taken as medical advice and you should ALWAYS consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. We provide nutritional data for our recipes as a courtesy to our readers. We use Total Keto Diet app software to calculate the nutrition and we remove fiber and sugar alcohols, like erythritol, from the total carbohydrate count to get to the net carb count, as they do not affect your blood glucose levels. You should independently calculate nutritional information on your own and not rely on our data. The website or content herein is not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose or treat any disease. This website shall not be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or recommendations on the Website or actions you take as a result. Any action you take is strictly at your own risk.
Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD is an aesthetic medicine specialist whose work focuses on patients who are treated for obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other weight-related issues through nutritional analysis, keto diet programs, and supporting medications.
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