Francisca Lost A Jaw Dropping 6 Stone In A Year And A Half- Check Out The New Her!

23 March 2017

Francisca Maphosa has lost 6 stone in a year and a half, to go from an overweight size 24 to a trim and toned size 6. She has changed her career to become a Body Pump instructor and her motivation to lose weight was a fear of diabetes. We caught up with her to find what contributed to her huge weight loss.

Francisca before the weight loss

How much did you lose in total and how long did it take?

My weight dropped from 102kg (16st) to 63kg. (9.9st) Dress size dropped from 24 to a size 6. In 1 and a half years. Rome was not built in a day. It's not a sprint but a marathon.

What made you decide to join the gym? Was there a turning point?

One day I had a wakeup call. I started having difficulty doing simple things like going up the stairs, I was getting out of breath and always feeling tired.

Secondly, I come from a family with diabetes. I went to see my GP and was told I was overweight and high risk of a heart attack and of course diabetes. He then gave me a referral to see a dietitian. For me that was a wakeup call. I felt sad and reality kicked in.

So, I decided to take things into my own hands and refused to be a prisoner to food or even to be controlled by it. The reason I gained so much weight was just eating too much and finding comfort in cakes (anything sweet) especially when am low or just hungry at any time. I used to drink lots of tea using full cream milk and 4 teaspoons of sugar. You can just imagine the amount of sugar that was going into my body. Water was never something I drunk. I lived on fizzy drinks as my thirst quencher.

How do you stay motivated to keep at your gym routine?

There is no point after all that hard work to go back to my old bad habits. I stay focused and have my eyes on my health. You are your own reflection you see in the mirror. I am happier and content with my body size now. It takes a long time to adapt to the change but once you have that mindset, anyone can do. Perseverance and determination is key.

What type of workouts do you do?

I wanted to change my body shape to build muscle and maintain it. Now I exercise 5 times a week at DW Fitness in Manchester. I do high intensity exercise and weightlifting which I love a lot, especially Les Mills Body Pump.

The other classes I do are body combat, circuits, HIIT and body attack. All the classes target different parts of my body.

Other than the weight loss, have you experienced any other positive changes?

With the passion that I have, I am now in the process of becoming a Les Mills Body Pump instructor. I have just done my module training and presently doing Team Teaching to get certified.