Growing up in Egypt, Marleen didn’t have the easiest childhood. She was surrounded by stress and fear with no one to confide in. This led her down the path of emotional eating and by the age of 13, she was obese. By the age of 15 she realised she had to make a change and that emotional eating wasn’t a healthy or sustainable path.
Faced with feelings of low self-worth and inadequacy taking control of her weight was a pivotal moment in her mental health. She changed what she ate and started exercising. By the time she turned 19, she has lost 20kg and was well on the way to a healthy mindset and body. But then she ran away… from Egypt, from her family and an unwanted engagement, to start a life in Australia and discover for herself what freedom felt like.
Unfortunately, this major life change pushed her back down the path of comfort eating and she regained half of the lost weight.
This woke her up.
She needed to find a sustainable way to keep the weight off and manage her unhealthy relationship with food and her body.
Through learning about emotional reliance on food, understanding her moments of weakness and implementing strategies to better manage her emotional state, as well as, incorporate a moderate diet and exercise routine into her life, she managed to lose a total of 42kg and go on to win 3 Gold and 4 Silver Medals in both National and World Championship Bikini Competitions only 6 months after having her baby.
In this podcast, Marleen discusses some powerful ideas to start putting ourselves first, loving ourselves, and then working hard to achieve because we love ourselves, not in order to love ourselves. Learn how to choose freedom. This is an incredible conversation not to be missed
To find out more about Marleen, Click here