Virginia o’Keefe was delighted when she stepped on the scales and realised she was halfway to her goal weight of a trim, healthy 75kg. But this was no ordinary weight-loss achievement.
The determined nana from Tauranga has managed to lose an incredible 100kg through sensible eating and lots of exercise – and she still has another 100kg to go.
Three years ago, Virginia (58) weighed an enormous 275kg, a weight she had carried since she was 30 – nearly half her life.
“All that weight made me feel like a fat, useless so-and-so,” says Virginia, fighting back tears at the memory.”I was prepared to lie back and die. That’s how I felt. I didn’t care. I gave up hope and didn’t feel like going on.”
A survivor of family violence, Virginia, who has six adult children and 32 grandchildren, says going through that ordeal crushed her self-esteem, and her only outlet was binge eating, leading to a massive weight-gain over time.
Piling on the kilos only added to her misery. “I felt that everything was against me, and knew my health was failing,” she says. “I didn’t see much of my children. I was feeling down all the time.”
Virginia got so large that for years she had to rely on friends to make her special clothing as she couldn’t fit anything from shops. “That was so degrading, having to get clothes made for me because I couldn’t just go and buy them,” she says.
She could also barely walk, and any kind of physical effort left her breathless and exhausted. The turning point came when Virginia, a former mail sorter for New Zealand Post, collapsed at work.
“oy body was giving up,” she says.
“It was hard to come to terms with the fact that I was a huge lady. I wanted to start over and win back what I had before. I lost all my friends, because I became a recluse. I also hated being called ‘Fatso’ by strangers every time I left the home.”
Virginia went to her GP and finally had to face the reality of her situation.
“oy doctor told me that I had to make a choice in my life – did I want to live or die? He said I had to do it for my grandchildren. At the end of the visit, I knew that I wanted to live.”
Rather than being overwhelmed at the thought of having to lose 200kg, Virginia was determined to reclaim her life – and without any special diets, pills or surgery of any kind.
“I wanted to do it naturally. It felt like the best and healthiest way,” she says.
In terms of exercise, because she couldn’t walk much and sometimes had to use a wheelchair, she found water walking ideal. Supported by the water, Virginia was at first only able to do half a length of an 18m pool at a time. These days, she spends two hours in the pool, five days a week.
She also cut down her portion sizes and made healthier food choices.
Although Virginia has had lots of support from friends in her quest to lose 200kg, it’s the love of her children and grandchildren that has inspired her the most.
“oy whanau have been the biggest supporters. They never cared what people thought or said about me. I have the best kids in the world.”
Virginia accepts that she still has a long way to go before she reaches her goal weight, but she also knows that the amount she’s shed already is an amazing achievement in itself.Knowing she’s reached the halfway point is all she needs to keep losing that other 100kg.
“I’m starting to feel like a real person now,” she smiles. “I feel so proud of myself, because I’m losing it, and I’m going to continue to lose it. Just watch this space!”
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