I am a weight loss consultant.

Now before you start running for the hills, please note that I am not about to try and force you to buy something.

In fact, I’ve been a weight loss consultant for over a year now. I have a beautiful Facebook support group of almost 1,000 wonderful ladies, and access to hundreds of email addresses – but you would be hard-pressed to find a single soul that I have ever contacted with a sales pitch.

This article isn’t about how my weight loss products could change or improve your life. Rather it’s about how narrow minded society still is regarding weight loss.

Recently, I noticed a few of my lovely colleagues had secured news articles regarding their awesome results – and admittedly their results are truly stunning as well as inspirational. But why do results always have to be about aesthetic gain…?

I don’t have your typical weight loss story, I haven’t gone from a “sad heavy” person to a “happy light” person – I am happy regardless of my weight, I am just as happy 23kgs lighter as what I was 23kgs heavier.

Added to this my burning motivation behind my weight loss is my severely disabled children. You won’t find a single “before and after” photo of myself because my focus is gaining better health and strength to keep going both physically and mentally in day to day life.

I can tell you from experience that changing a 7-year-olds nappy several times a day, every single day requires a brutal amount of physical strength.

So I shamelessly contacted the news media that had run stories on my colleagues, asking if they would like to run an article from a different perspective. I waited for weeks with bated breath, then I contacted a few more… no one wanted to hear about my weight loss journey.

What does this mean?

Are the only weight loss success stories that of the beautifully flawless, tight and toned individuals?

Does weight loss not encompass the daily benefits that comes with losing weight, such as being able to run after 5 children, none of whom have ever been to daycare, as well as meet the demands of two special needs boys AND did I mention that I am excitedly expecting baby number six?

Weight loss success is whatever you want it to be! It doesn’t have to mean that you have successfully erased every telltale sign that you have ever carried a baby for 9 months, it isn’t the size of your clothing, nor is it the results you see on any given set of scales.

The success, the reward, comes in many different forms. And sometimes it can simply mean being able to keep going, even when you feel like breaking down.

Your success story is you. And your ability to be the best version of yourself that you can be. The greatest role model for your children. And sometimes the most looked passed feature about ourselves can be our greatest asset/results.

Be inspired, by yourself, for your everyday achievements, because at the end of the day they are everything.

If you are a special needs parent, please look after yourself, your health is of the utmost importance to your child, and if you are one of the news media representatives who declined to consider a different perspective, please don’t contact me now – my weight loss story and everything behind becoming a consultant has far too much depth for you.