How this family lost 125kg together

Publish Date
Tuesday, 29 November 2016, 2:00PM
Photo / Anna Van Dyken

Photo / Anna Van Dyken

A family of three have pulled off a combined weight loss transformation that has to be seen to be believed, losing a whopping 125 kilograms between them.

Anna Van Dyken, 45, her husband Rod, 44, and son Ethan, 14, come from large families and were both used to using food as a way to "show their love".

But the family suffered a rude awakening in 2012 when Ethan - who weighed 80 kilograms at the age of just 10 - finished 15 minutes behind all his classmates during his primary school cross country race.

As Mrs Van Dyken stood and waited along with everyone else in the school for her embarrassed son to finish, she knew something had to change.

"He was the last one to finish and came round 15 minutes after everyone else and a couple of kids ran out to help him and everyone stood there watching and it was really embarrassing," she told Daily Mail Australia.


At the age of 10 Ethan weighed an enormous 80kg and told his mum he never wanted to do his school's cross country again. Photo / Anna Van Dyken

 

"I remember that day he said 'Mum, don't ever let me do that again, I don't want to do it again'.

"I thought s***, I've done that to him and so I turned and said to him, 'I'll fix this'."

With her husband then diagnosed with diabetes, she turned to weightloss company Weight Watchers to help save her family.

A food lover, Mrs Van Dyken knew that if her family was to get in shape they wouldn't be able to cut out all the good things they had come to enjoy.

But through better control over portions and by slightly tweaking the contents of their meal, the family were able to escape their "vicious cycle" and shed the kilos.

From her original weight of 147kg, Mrs Van Dyken now weighs 74kg - a loss of 73kgs.

Also impressive was Mr Van Dyken's 35kg drop from 120kg to 85kg.

Incredibly Ethan dropped more than 10kg and now as a teenager weighs less than he did at age 10 - while also improving his running to finish third in the cross country.

Three years after starting, most importantly the family have kept the weight off.

Having turned her family's lives around, Mrs Van Dyken was awarded the Australian Weight Watchers Inspiration in 2013.

Now through her popular Instagram page she regularly posts healthy food recipes and photos to her almost 6,000 followers.

"That's my passion, I've got quite a few followers because I take recipes and make them healthier," she said.

"I just really truly hope that if someone out there can read my story and read what we've done, they'll realise they can do it too."

Daily Mail

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