“I Finally Beat My Cake Addiction And Dropped 16 Kilos!”
Anathi was determined to reach her goal weight, so she decided to ditch her cake addiction and stop partying. Here's how she did it.

January 17, 2017

Anathi ditched her cake addiction and lost weight

I discovered that I love running more than sugar.

Anathi was determined to reach her goal weight, so she decided to ditch her cake addiction and stop partying. Here, she shares how she did it.

Anathi Titi

Age: A girl never tells
Weight before: 78 Kg
Weight after: 61 Kg
Height: 1.6m
Time required to reach current weight: A year
Secret weapon: Patience, determination and discipline

The Gain

Growing up, Anathi was quite petite and slim, so much so that she was teased and given the nickname “sticks” – implying just how tiny she was. This all changed when she left home to live on her own. “My lifestyle changed, I became a party animal, we’d have Mac’D or Steers at around 3am, after a hectic night of drinking and partying,” she says. Parties being only exercises she did.

READ MORE: 5 Physical Signs Your Eating Habits Need To Change

“Breakfast would be a cider or two with a very greasy braai’d meat and four slices of bread. Throughout the day I’d nurse my sweet tooth and indulge in sweet things – cakes, muffins and chocolates – the works. Dinner was rice, potatoes and meat or pasta,” she says. Anathi also confesses that the only veggies she actually bought with groceries were potatoes because she loved them that much, “I never loved other veggies,” she adds.

The Change

“In April 2015, my friend and I drove down to Cape Town to do the Two Oceans Race and on the way I was snacking on cake.” The snacking didn’t stop there. “When we got to Cape Town we had lunch and I ordered cake too. That’s was when my fit and healthy friend flipped and gave me a piece of her mind about my cake addiction… she was disgusted and disappointed,” says Anathi. The words spoken were clearly thought-provoking and change-inspiring because from there on Anathi changed her unhealthy ways. “I decided to start afresh in May – first dealing with my cake addiction, then slowly introducing jogging into my daily routine,” she says.

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The Lifestyle

Trust, changes were made. “I started with a 13 day diet and ran 2km everyday,” she says. That worked. What was next? “I gave up alcohol, gave up starch and carbs,” says Anathi. “A month later, a friend introduced me to the Paleo reboot programme. I actually enjoyed it so much that I ended up adopting a Paleo lifestyle.

READ MORE: 10 Metabolism Boosters, Ranked According To Effectiveness 

But because I’m a runner I added non-paleo meals like oats, lentils and potatoes,” she adds. Besides running, Anathi went to gym to do cardio almost everyday, and she added weights, squats, planks box jumps and the works to her routine.

The Reward

“The feeling you get after completing a race – now that’s rewarding” she says having ran two marathons (the Cape Town Marathon and the Old Mutual Soweto Marathon). She also admits that there’s no quick fix. It took quiet a while to drop the weight – even though she was losing centimetres around her waist. “My tummy is flat now, my clothes fit better and I feel lighter,” she says.  Anathi has lost 17 kilos and dropped three dress sizes since she began her weight-loss journey. Now that’s how you slay!

Anathi’s Tips

Do it for yourself
Doing it for people is exhausting. It sucks all the fun out of it.
Be committed
Baby steps, be patient with yourself. You don’t need the pressure.
Understand the journey
You have to get to the finish line.

Looking for more inspirational weight-loss stories? Check out how Zamazindela lost 23 kilos, and how Lebo dropped 30 kilos like its hot.