Always active, Rozanne McKenzie had never worried about her weight, but her lifestyle changed when she left school, prompting her body to fill out steadily. Through strength training, she’s now lost 14kg and is in the best shape of her life. “I really like the new me. It may have taken me until my thirties to finally meet her, but I’m definitely very fond of her.”

Before: 81kg
After: 67kg
Height: 1.71m
Time required to reach current weight: 2 years
Lesson learnt: “Every training session is a chance to be better than the day before”
Secret weapon: “Facebook. I check in every time I go to gym, so I can see when I’m being slack”

The gain

In 2008, Rozanne became a presenter on a magazine show with demanding hours. “I ate a lot of chocolate, chips, fried food and takeaways. I never ate breakfast, then I’d indulge in a massive lunch because I’d be absolutely starving. The little exercise I was doing made no difference to my weight – I actually ate more on days when I knew I was going to gym.”

The change

By the end of 2011, Rozanne weighed 81kg. Being on camera all the time, she became conscious of her weight and felt uncomfortable in her body – a feeling she was unaccustomed to. “In one episode I was wearing a top that clung to the rolls around my stomach. I was so embarrassed that it had been broadcast to the whole country!” Denial was no longer an option – it was time to take action.

The lifestyle

Rozanne hired a personal trainer to whip her into shape. “I’d seen trainers at gym and chose the guy who really seemed to work his clients hard. In the beginning we worked with kettlebells. I trained five to six days a week. We then added functional CrossFit-type moves and high-intensity interval training,” says Rozanne. Grant (her trainer) also encouraged Rozanne to keep a food diary. She was mortified by her early entries. “I now eat a healthy diet of fruit and veg, whole grains and protein. I’ve also cut out bread – it wasn’t agreeing with me. I now feel accountable for what I put into my body.”

The reward

Last year Rozanne was cast in an American Coca-Cola ad that aired during half-time at the Superbowl. “The brief was for an Amazonian, strong, Grace Jones-type woman and when I booked the job, it was validation of all the hard work I’d done to get there. It took me a while to lose the weight and it will take me the rest of my life to keep it off.”

Rozanne’s tips:

Find tweetspiration. “I follow people on Twitter for home workout ideas if I can’t make it to gym.”
Mix it up. “To avoid boredom, switch up cardio and strength training.”
Don’t hog the scale. “Some days the scale is your friend, other days it’s your enemy, so I try to weigh in once every fortnight.”