Busy Mum, Ranjana, stopped dieting and yo-yoing to be fit for life

Juggling a hectic full-time job and two young children, Ranjana had more than her hands full. A firm believer in working ‘smart’ as opposed to working ‘hard’, she really applied the philosophy of ‘living in the present moment’ and in the ‘power of now’.

Ranjana is a high performer at her work and a dedicated mother, but while she excelled in all those fronts she found it very hard to prioritise her own health and well-being. While there weren’t very alarming health issues, she just felt very tired and she had put on a lot of weight.

The Diet Trap

Desperately trying to get back into shape, she wanted to be fit and look and feel good. Ranjana tried a lot of diets anything that could help her shed the extra kilos. SO much so that she even tried something called ‘the cabbage soup’ diet, where the only thing you eat is cabbage soup!

“The cabbage soup diet was the lowest of the low points in my dieting history! It tasted awful and I even ended up smelling of cabbage! Of course I lost weight, but then anyone would lose weight if all they ate was watery cabbage. Predictably when I switched back to eating normally again and all the weight piled back on.”

Ranjana was also on the ketogenic diet before she signed up to RNT.

“At the end of the day a diet can only take you so far, diets aren’t sustainable which is why I was constantly rebounding and yo-yoing. It was so frustrating!”

The Turning Point

Feeling at a loss with no apparent solution in sight, Ranjana was at the end of her tether. That was when she met an RNTer, her friend and a mother from her children’s school Gita Vadher. Seeing Gita’s transformation left her so inspired she wanted to learn more.

“Gita is so lovely, such a wonderful person and she looked so amazing as well. And when I saw her transformation through RNT I was so inspired I wanted to try it too. I thought if Gita could do it, surely I could too!”

Ranjana believes in making informed decisions so she decided to research and find out everything she could about RNT and the RNT Methodology.

“I followed RNT on social media. I read all the articles. I listened to the podcasts. I looked up all the case studies. I was so impressed by what I read! I thought let me try this one last thing to see if I could turn my health around.”

In May 2018, there was a transformation giveaway to celebrate RNT’s 1st birthday and Ranjana applied hoping to win the package.

“I didn’t win the prize and I was so so disappointed! And then I realised that I was actually waiting to win a prize to change my life! I couldn’t believe that I was relying on flimsy luck to change my life around, that’s when I decided to jump in with both feet and sign up!”

Overcoming Insomnia

Ranjana kickstarted her journey with great gusto and she was so pleased to see the weight starting to drop off from the very start!

She started to feel much better in herself and there was a bounce in her step! But another huge benefit she got from her RNT journey, one that she didn’t expect at all was that she finally got over her terrible insomnia.

Ranjana had tried every trick in the book to get a good night’s sleep. She had lavender scented pillows, she kept her room cool, she drank cups and cups of chamomile tea cut out caffeine in the evenings but nothing worked. It was so bad that her GP even recommended she use some sleeping pills, just so she could get a full night’s sleep.

“I am not exaggerating when I said that I hadn’t slept in about 7 years. I would lie awake in bed at 2am and stare at my phone unable to fall asleep. On an average I would get about 2-3 hours of sleep every night. This has been my reality until about week 6 or 7 of my RNT journey. I actually managed to sleep 6 full hours!”

The routine that Ranjana had ironed out helped her create a structure and the food that she ate was so nourishing that she felt her body was less stressed and able to relax. Of course all the training and cardio and steps played a huge part in helping her body rest.

“RNT enhances everything, you are the same person but so much more! I wasn’t waking up grumpy and tired anymore. I was more patient with the children and I also had so much more time for my husband!”

The Evolution Of Her ‘Why’

In a few short weeks Ranjana’s life started to change, she had more energy, she felt so good about herself, and found that she was a better partner and parent. Everyone started noticing how good she looked and that’s when she realised it wasn’t just about how she looked but how the journey made her feel.

“Suddenly the aesthetic benefits weren’t as important. Of course I looked good, but I wanted to feel strong. I wanted to be the right role model for my young girls. I didn’t want to be tiny or skinny-fat. I wanted my girls to look at me and think, ‘Wow! Mummy is strong!’ and set a healthy idea of what an ideal body should be like.”

When Ranjana started at RNT she weighed in at 71.5kgs standing a little over 5 feet tall she was quite a bit overweight.

“In 20 weeks I was down 17kgs and weighed 54kgs! I was truly in the shape of my life ready to take on the 40s!”

Striking The Perfect Balance

When your day is already really busy most people wonder how they could possibly fit in more! They wonder how it could be doable to get the 10,000 steps, meal prep and train 3 times a week over and above everything!

When we asked Ranjana how she managed to fit everything is, she has this to share:

“It’s really about being clear about your priorities. If it’s important to you to get fit you need to do what you need to do. Not just say I want to get fit and then eat cake and pizza. Your actions have to match your goals. So I prioritised my family, my health and my sleep, that took precedence over other things.”

The Morning Routine

Every morning Ranjana wakes up at 4:30am. She goes to the gym and goes for a walk to get some of her steps in.

“I was always an early bird, I liked having the time to myself before my kids woke up and demanded my time and attention. Now that morning me-time is used to train and get my steps. By 6:30 I’m showered and dressed and ready to take on the day.”

Meal Prep

An essential tool we highly recommend to all our members is the habit of meal prepping. If you have a meal that is already portioned out and ready for you to eat, you are less likely to reach for a snack or nibble on some of the kids’ food.

“I meal prep every week! I make something different for the family but I have my own food. And my kids know that my plate has the healthiest food. This also inspired my children to try things that they wouldn’t normally try and that’s an added bonus!”

From Fat Loss to Muscle Gain

The first two stages in the RNT journey, is the Clean The Palate Phase where we set the structure of the training and the new nutrition plan in place. After this, our members enter The Process Phase - which is essentially the fat loss phase, where you follow the process and the plan to drop excess body fat while slowly but surely build strength and muscle.

When Ranjana reached the end of her Process Phase she had reached her target weight, what we call The Checkpoint. She was at 54 kgs and felt fit and strong. What would typically happen in most other plans is that people reach their target weight, feel so victorious (as they should be) and then slide back into old habits of not being careful of what they are eating. They end up consuming more calories than they are burning resulting in the dreaded rebound.

“This is why I don’t like to call the RNT nutritional plan a diet. It isn’t actually a diet, it’s a nutrition plan tailored to my needs so I can eat healthy and get strong while continuing to stay fit. Most people don’t realise I can eat whatever I want, I just make sure I check the macronutrients and that it fits within my macro limit. Last night I went out for a meal so I planned in advance and made sure that I had checked the menu and knew what I wanted to order that would fit my nutrition plan.”

After Checkpoint our members step into The Consolidation Phase this is where we change the nutrition plan to allow for more calories, we also alter the training plan so they can grow muscle and increase their strength in the gym..

“I found The Consolidation Phase hard, suddenly I had so much more food and I couldn’t fit it in! All these extra calories makes you feel tempted to eat things like pizza and milkshakes. But 1700 calories of healthy food is a lot to fit in!

The most amazing thing was my weight went up by 2 kilos but I dropped down a dress size. The size 8 clothes just weren’t fitting me anymore!”

Ranjana’s new nutrition plan though more calorie dense was prepared with muscle building and strength training in mind. While the scale says she weighed more her body composition changed and she was now carrying a lot more muscle.

“My strength in the gym went up too! I was able to lift more! I remember when I started out in the gym I was working out my dumbbell rows with 2kg dumbbells. Now I use 16kgs dumbbells and my strength is only going up!”

Straight From The Heart

Ranjana’s journey has just been incredible. She has gone from feeling unsure and googling diets while lying sleepless in bed at 2am to completely taking charge of her body and her mind.

When asked what advice she would give to other RNTers who are starting out on the journey she says:

“I have just one tip, don’t lose focus! That first goal of fat loss is tough and it’s going to take a lot of mental willpower. But the next stage of muscle building is harder still. But if you have the right mindset and approach each day with a steady intention you can achieve what you have set out to achieve.”

Ranjana speaks about her RNT journey and how it changed her life in her own words:

“At 2am mid-2018, whilst flipping through family holiday photos I took a long hard look at myself in those photos. I was still happy, smiley, chirpy but a whole lot bigger, bulkier and seriously out of shape. The image I have of myself in my head - young, energetic and healthy mum of 2 just didn’t match what I was seeing. In my early thirties, I’ve been pregnant twice and forgotten to look after myself and eaten far too much of the healthy foods and unhealthy foods, program hopping and over analysing my diet-exercise plans, leading to very little success but always ending with the same question – ‘What am I doing wrong?’. Kids and family have always come first and somehow looking after myself wasn’t ever a priority. Like all parents, I want to set an example for my girls and so it has become my ultimate goal.

I had heard of RNT from friends and I researched them thoroughly, scrolling through all the articles and testimonials there are. Everything I read about RNT coaches further reinforced my decision to sign up.

My RNT journey has been amazing and informative. I’ve gone from a dress size 14 to a size 8 and lost 17 kilograms- all this whilst enjoying what I was doing. The difference the RNT methodology makes is immense. I’m so grateful for everything RNT has done for me! From my previous endeavours to get fit I knew it was not going to be a quick-fix or an overnight miracle. I’ve had support with nutrition, food prepping, and have developed a deeper understanding of why I’m doing what I’m doing. The RNT group on Facebook and their podcasts kept me motivated. The accountability system that RNT has embedded in their program was key to my progress. RNT has reformed my life - by changing my attitude towards food, exercise, health. I went to RNT asking to make me “look good” and I have ended up looking good and feeling amazing. It’s fabulous to have a team that motivates you with their own experiences on their fitness journey.

Being skinny isn’t for everyone but being strong should be for everyone, especially women. I know I am setting the right body goals and body image for my two girls who are now obsessed with eating veg and making healthy choices. Why wait for my 40th birthday to feel great?! RNT has got me there well before my 38th Birthday.

I signed up for a body transformation and I transformed my life! So kicked for the next phase of bettering my body and life. Thank you RNT!”