Success Story

Even though I hit my goal at 9 months, I wanted to wait a full year before finally sitting down and writing this testimonial.

When I found Faranak Amini, I was at my wits’ end. I’d been on some weight-loss “journey” or another since I was a child, forever trying the latest fad or diet pill to try and “get thin”.

My weight ballooned in my twenties and I found myself at an all-time high of about 140 kg (I stopped weighing after 140, so who knows!). I managed to lose weight by myself at that time, but it was always a struggle and an effort. A restricting, suffering nightmare. In 2015, I weighed 130 kg and was still desperately unhappy. It was in that year that I discovered Banting and the LCHF lifestyle. I bought the book, cooked the food and managed to get my weight down to 110 kg, and I got stuck. I got stuck like I’ve gotten stuck SO many times in my life!

Then I discovered Keto and managed to get my weight to 100 kg, and then I got stuck…AGAIN. I stayed there for a couple of years, yo-yo-ing back and forth between 100 and 105, up to 110 back down to 100, wash-rinse-repeat. After years of bouncing back and forth, always yearning for my goal weight of 80, yet never getting there, I realised something else was going on. Clearly something was missing; I was missing some point, somewhere.

When I found Faranak’s website, I weighed 117 kg and felt like I was well on my way to being my starting weight again. So I sent her a message and very soon afterwards an appointment was made, and it was official! It was scary for me to admit I needed professional help with weight loss. I’d always been so hyper-independent and simultaneously deeply ashamed of what I considered a massive failure, that the thought of paying someone to help me manage my diet terrified me.

The day I arrived, I was filled with nerves and memories of being treated like a subhuman by medical professionals because of my weight. I felt ugly and frumpy and like a complete failure for never succeeding in losing all the weight I had gained.

When I walked into Faranak’s office, I was greeted with a bright, friendly smile! Her demeanour immediately put me at ease. I felt accepted and I just knew I was in good hands.

From the very first day, I had a renewed sense of hope that this time, it would work. On that first day, I told her about my struggles with emotional eating and with the yo-yo dieting back and forth. She gave me SO much information that day, things I didn’t know, even after being Banting/LCHF/Keto for close to 15 years! That same day, I was sent a list of foods I could eat till I was full, foods to limit and foods to avoid completely. We went shopping that evening, stocking up on the allowed foods, excited to begin the journey.

Throughout the first 16-week package that I signed up for, Faranak’s weekly chats (in-person and remotely) gave me SO much information I didn’t even know I was missing. She educated me on the effects of certain foods and chemicals on the body and slowly but surely my mindset started swinging from a yearning for a mythical “thinness” to a commitment to being healthy. Years of conditioning fell away and a brand new way of being around food started forming. I found it easier and easier to say “no thank you” to sugar and unhealthy carbs. In the past, it felt a lot like restriction – like I wasn’t “allowed” to have any of the foods I “wanted”. This time, with the way Faranak’s plans and strategy work, I realised that I was eating emotionally (more than I previously thought) and that the feeling of restriction was a) dietary and b) emotional. Dietary, because when I eat the healthier fats and foods, my cravings are WAY more manageable. Emotional, because I discovered many little emotional triggers that would usually have led to a complete breakdown of my resolve and my commitment.

As I continued through the first 16 weeks with Faranak, I felt increasingly more in control of my eating habits and the shift in mindset from a number on a scale to just honouring my body by eating better has been invaluable. The weight came off so easily, too! At first, it was slow, then she suggested new parameters/macros and from there it was just a joy watching the kilos drop when I got on the scale once a week. Previously, it would go well for a while, but sooner or later, it would all go wrong again.

This time, with Faranak in my corner and a quick WhatsApp away, I never EVER backslid. I never gained an unwanted kilo. I watched as my old clothes started fitting me again, as the scale continued to go ever downward. I started feeling better and better, as my body responded to being fuelled well. All of the symptoms I had before I saw Faranak went away – no more headaches, no more sluggishness, no more IBS, no more heartburn and my skin and hair look amazing!

Since seeing Faranak, now officially a year later, I have started training to run a 5k and I am a size Medium for the first time since I was 20! My shoulder and back pain are gone, I have tonnes of energy and I feel like a whole new person. As a pleasant and unexpected side-benefit, I also drink MUCH less, something I have been trying to do for so many years. I don’t crave sweet things nearly as much as I used to, I prepare my meals with fresh, healthy ingredients, with a happy dance and a smile on my face. I honour my life and my body in ways I NEVER thought I would, I prioritise my health and well-being for the first time in my life. Years of shame, pain, struggling, self-esteem issues, self-image issues – all of these and more are behind me now.

The biggest joy, of course, is to finally be a more normal weight, to be able to go on any rides at an amusement park, to fit into cinema seats, to go shopping and not cry in the fitting room. An unexpected joy, though, is the ability to MAINTAIN the weight. I’ve always been VERY good at losing weight and even better at gaining it all back. That’s why I wanted to wait until a whole year had passed before writing this, because for the last 3 months, I have been maintaining the weight I was when I last saw Faranak. For the first time in my life, the scale isn’t my enemy; the scale isn’t a big, scary thing in the corner of the bathroom. The scale has become my friend, my faithful indicator, my reminder to eat well, for my health.

Maintenance has been something that was a mystery to me. I never understood how people just maintained a good weight. Now I have the tools and the knowledge with which to ensure I NEVER go back to that unhealthy, life-limiting weight, ever again. I finally have what I need to be able to keep living this healthy lifestyle, eating amazing food, in healthy quantities, for my vitality and longevity.

With Faranak’s gentle, friendly, expert guidance, I have finally made my dreams come true. A 30+ year struggle has finally come to an end. I am eternally grateful for finding her and for committing to her program, which extended way beyond the initial 16 weeks I signed up for, simply because it works!

Faranak is deeply committed to health and to changing people’s lives. I am just one of many success stories and our journey together is not over. I will still go for regular full-body scans as I keep working on myself and my body.

Thank you, Faranak – You changed my life!

Joni Norval