7. Jacqui Rens

Age: 41
Home Town: Cape Town
Height: 1.70m
Occupation: Owner of Exquisite Ice (a diamond store)
Time Required: 1 year
Then: 105kg
Now: 83kg

THE WAKE-UP

After hearing the devastating news that having children of my own would probably never be a possibility, I turned to comfort eating, and my weight ballooned. I joke that I got off the couch for the first time at 40, but it’s actually true. Until I turned 40, I’d avoided exercise, but now I tipped the scales at over 100kg – and it made me feel miserable.

THE SHAKE-UP

I changed my diet, drank two litres of water a day, downloaded a running app and started running on the treadmill. For me, the biggest challenge was my own negative self-talk. I had to make an effort to tell myself I was awesome every day, even if I didn’t believe it. I also had to think of different ways to fuel my body for the rigorous training, because I’m a lacto-vegetarian. And exercise was difficult when I weighed more – it took more effort. But when I put my mind to something, I don’t usually give up.

I remember feeling ecstatic when I finished my first Parkrun, with one of my pugs at my side, in 50 minutes. When I ran my first 15km road run with a friend, I didn’t make the cut-off, and by the time I got to the finish line, everyone else had gone home – but I did it!

Then I enlisted the help of Embark running coach Garth Dorman to help me prepare for the Two Oceans Half. And even though my partner’s more into football, he bought himself a pair of trail-running shoes, so that he could run with me.

THE REWARD

Garth and some of my Embark teammates waited for me at the finish line of the Two Oceans Half to cheer me in, even though it took me just over three hours. I finished with two minutes to spare before the cut-off (3:08).

Since I ran it off, I’ve done other things I couldn’t do before, like climbing Table Mountain, and running in the mountains in Stellenbosch. It feels nice when people I don’t know make a point of telling me I’m inspirational.

For 6 Basic Ways to Adjust Your Eating Habits for Weight-Loss, click here.

Want to start running? Start here.

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