Judy Fallens shares her story about the wake up call she needed.

I was about to head into my 50s feeling overweight, tired and unfit, and my dreams of becoming ‘fit and fifty’ were going out the window.

I had just been prescribed with high blood pressure medication from my doctor and words like ‘stroke, heart attack and diabetes’ were thrown around. I could hardly hear his words as my heart was pounding.

I was shocked and confused because I didn’t feel like I was struggling with my health. Having high blood pressure isn’t something you can feel and that was the scary part.

Unfortunately, more than 4.7 million Australians live with high blood pressure and if left unchecked, it could potentially lead to a higher risk in strokes, heart failure, heart attacks, kidney failure and more.

But this was the wake-up call I needed to start putting my health first, so along with a friend, we took that first step in turning our lives around. We joined 1:1 Diet and it was the best decision I ever made.

It’s not surprising that half of Australians struggle to lose weight as they get older, and those aged between 45-54 years old struggle the most. I get it, I’ve been there myself.

In the first few weeks I started exercising and the more weight I lost, the more motivated I became. The steps were easy to follow and it worked well with my lifestyle and family commitments.

I always thought that I needed to be in the right headspace to start a diet, but seeing the weight come off me and having a consultant and a friend on the program with me was a huge motivator.

After three months, I lost 15kg and no longer needed my blood pressure medication – even my doctor was surprised to hear this!

This was life-changing for me because I finally felt confident, I was doing all the things that I previously thought I couldn’t and I am so proud of myself.

Since starting the 1:1 Diet, I’ve lost a total of 27kg, I’m walking 6km a day and I feel great.

Life can sometimes get in the way of us putting our health first, but it’s scary to know that high blood pressure is closely attributed to heart disease deaths in Australia, and I do not want to part of that statistic.

It’s never too late for Australians to get their heart health checked and to start prioritising their wellbeing by making better lifestyle choices for their health. I know I struggled with taking that first step but I’m glad I did.

Judy Fallens was one of the finalists for the 1:1 Diet’s Slimmer of the Year Awards for 2022.