Determination to stay on task for most of the time and good advice is what will have got this lady to reaching her goals. To achieve change YOU must be prepared to MAKE THE CHANGE and stick with it. Great to see it took time too "as what comes FAST doesn't LAST"! And shakes, tablets and other non real food are not living a real life and are not sustainable long term!

Ah, another year begins, and with it 365 days of opportunities to change. Some have big plans: stop smoking, travel more. Or there are the little ones, like to drink more water.

The most common one? To lose weight, get fit.

With high hopes and strong will, we stroll into the gym and sign up. Yes, I will be here at least three days a week. Yes, I will stay on the treadmill for an hour each time and lift heaps of weights. Fast forward a few months and the motivation has diminished. Next year, we say. And so the cycle continues. But there are some who manage to make it stick. Smashing their goals, like a kid playing soccer too close to the kitchen window. Last year, Sam Sehlierike​ was one of them. The 24-year-old spent the 366 days of 2016 shedding 45 kilos. At her heaviest, she was about 125kg.

Sam Sehlierike once weighed 125kgs.

"I just wasn't happy with how I looked and how I felt."

Sehlierike was always a big kid. "I didn't really care what anyone thought. I didn't really have any self-respect."

Like so many, she had tried to lose weight before. Then, at the beginning of 2016, she began exercising with a personal trainer. It started with training sessions with her personal trainer once a week. She gradually started doing four sessions a week.

Sehlierike also slowly cut out junk food. She consumed fewer energy drinks and fizzy drinks. "If I felt like chocolate, I'd have dark chocolate or healthier version of chocolate."

Small changes make the biggest difference, she said. So does surrounding yourself with people who support and encourage you.

​"​This year, I can go out and wear what I want and feel good about it - not care what anyone else thinks. You feel so much happier than you ever had and had so much more confidence than you ever had.

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"I don't feel dreary. I feel more awake, more full of life."