How a mum-of-two who ‘eat her emotions’ lost over 120lbs in less than a year

A mum-of-two who ate her emotions has revealed how she turned her life around, losing 123kg in just 11 months.

Ashley Zablocki, 28, said an interaction with her son over a bar of chocolate made her question her relationship with food.

Zablocki said she would always have a “terrible relationship” with food, her body and her mental health. She said that when she turned 18 and had more freedom to buy her own food – and along with the birth of her first child – things got progressively worse from there.

I would eat at least one piece of chocolate. I’d snack all day, whatever the kids wouldn’t eat, and then because I wouldn’t eat lunch or breakfast, I’d eat a big one at dinner,” Zablocki told news.com.au .

She said that sometimes if her family got a takeout meal from McDonald’s, she and her husband would share a family meal.

“I would use food to cope with my emotions,” she said, adding that she would be lucky to take 1,000 steps a day and not exercise at all.

“Having children was almost like an excuse to myself: ‘I’m a busy mum, I don’t have time to do this.’

The Victorian woman said the heaviest she had ever weighed was 121kg [about 267 lbs] but looking at the photos she assumed it was “much heavier” than that.

However, its breaking point was when Cadbury released a new block of caramel slices.

“I liked it. I was taking it to the shops and my son took it from me and broke it in half,” she said.

“I got really angry because the pad wasn’t perfect for eating anymore. That’s when I realized my relationship with food wasn’t right. I went home and looked in the mirror and just thought about how I felt. I was like, ‘No I can do this again.”

Zablocki’s father had died of cancer at the age of 57. Her mother has had heart problems all her life and with both pregnancies, the new mother had gestational diabetes and preeclampsia with the first almost ending her and her daughter’s life. It all came to her and she knew something had to change.

She thought about it for a week and then told her husband that she wanted to start walking but was worried about walking outside because of her fitness level. Instead, she bought a cheap treadmill from Facebook Marketplace.

“I just started walking. I could only do 10 minutes at a time and I did that every day,” she said.

“Then I realized I had to change my diet, that no amount of exercise would fix my weight if I didn’t eat better.”

She began to slowly reduce her portion sizes, started eating three meals a day instead of snacks and one large meal, switched to sugar-free soft drinks and started drinking more water.

Zablocki also started intermittent fasting. But, she couldn’t share her favorite thing – dessert.

I did it for about three weeks and weighed myself and lost three pounds [6.6 pounds]. I was like, ‘I can do this,'” she said.

“I started to notice when I could walk another 5 minutes.â€

A friend suggested she try the 28 by Sam Wood dance classes on the fitness app, so she gave it a try. At first, she could only do five minutes before bloat. She said she now does it every day, along with jogging a few times a week, because she enjoys it so much.

In just 11 months, Zablocki dropped about 123 pounds and now weighs 143 pounds.

“I am feeling very well. I feel so much better mentally and physically. I can get out of bed and my body doesn’t hurt,” she said, adding that before starting her weight loss journey, she began seeing a psychologist to address her emotional triggers and find ways to to deal with those that weren’t related to food She also found ways to deal with her body confidence issues.

“I went to one play center with my kids and we went to another one that we usually go to,” she said.

“I said to my husband, “That slide looks like a lot of fun. It was big. And I climbed the playground and went down the slide with my daughter.

“It was the best scary feeling.â€

Now, in addition to running and jumping, Zablocki is in the process of weight training as she wants to get stronger. She said she hasn’t given up her love of food, but is enjoying her favorite things with a healthier twist.