Freshly Ground’s Zolani Mahola’s been rocking a kick-ass body for a while – after losing a whopping 25 kilos! In an interview with Women’s Health, Zolani revealed to us how she shed the weight…
The Motivation
“I’ve always had a strange disconnected feeling with my body,” Zolani admitted. Since the death of her mother, Zolani put on weight and somehow never felt the excess kilos. “I kind of felt like a teenage boy most of my life while looking like a roly-poly tomboy,” she says. Then, there came a point where she started to feel the weight she was carrying around, and she decided to take some serious action. “I felt like my outer should reflect my inner for a change.”
At a shoot for woman and home … Feeling very womanly n curvy indeed. And … at home in this vessel #placetobe #curvygirl #zolanihair #salomedewet #scarhair #loveandthensome
A photo posted by Zolani Mahola (@zolani) on
How Zolani Mahola Lost 25kg: The Diet
Zolani made some drastic changes to her diet before taking on any serious exercise. “I went on a radical diet, cutting out heavy carbs, fats, wheat, sugar – all the good stuff – and ate lean natural foods steamed or grilled,” she says. She also had a ton of help from the Internet. “I did consult weight-loss sites a lot on my journey. I got quite obsessed. I guess I had to,” she says.
The Workout
Now, Zolani works out regularly – three or four times a week, with a combination of running and boot camp. But, starting out, she needed to phase in her workouts gently. “I upped the exercise gradually as I felt stronger and lighter,” says Zolani. “My favourite thing is combining cardio and weights because it’s a complex workout,” she says. All in all, Zolani says she dropped the first 20kg relatively painlessly. “I had a lot of weight to lose and when you have a lot to lose like that it actually goes quite quickly in the beginning. So the first 20kg went by joyfully and I loved jumping in the scale and seeing my progress,” she says.
Even though I’m away from my Cape Town gym, I’ve found an amazing gym and trainer in Jozi. Thanks to Planet Fitness and trainer Avith I’m starting out my week healthy and strong! No excuses! #fitforlive #healthy #healthychoices #healthyliving #workout #motivated #instasport
A video posted by Zolani Mahola (@zolani) on
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