‘I realised something had to change’

Zintle Ntshikila

Zintle Ntshikila

Published Dec 20, 2014

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Cape Town - Sad or happy, Zintle Ntshikila used to turn to food for everything. Her breaking point was when she saw a picture of her 106kg self and knew she had to make a drastic, life-changing decision.

“I was sick. Whether I was happy, sad, in a rush or angry, I would eat. I ate everything, from deep fried to extremely sweet things. It was like I was a magnet, drawn and attracted to all the wrong things,” says Ntshikila.

“It wasn’t fair that other people had certain preferences when it came to food. I ate everything, from bread, chocolates to shisa nyama. I had everything, the money and the fancy clothes around me but I could not stop eating,” says Ntshikila, a full-time stylist from Parow, Cape Town.

“I wasn’t afraid to dine for one… my company would just be food because I didn’t drink alcohol. My friends used food as a drawcard when they wanted to get me somewhere, all they had to say was delicious food will be there and I would be there.”

That was over two years ago. Since then the 35-year-old mother of two has lost half of her body weight and now, at 56kg, is a shadow of her former self.

Seeing pictures of herself in a yellow stretch boob-tube dress at the 2011 J&B Met reduced her to tears, she says.

“I’ve always been a big girl with African hips and thighs but after having my girls the weight just piled up. I’ve never been scared of the scale or my 46 dress size. I was always comfortable in my body, even at size 38 I felt like I was Naomi Campbell,” Ntshikila says.

“But I looked at the pictures my friends had taken at the event and I said to myself ‘I can’t do this anymore and I wondered ‘How did I get here?’.

“I felt that I was wearing this mask all the time. I put it on each time someone said I was picking up weight. I looked at the ‘turnaround picture’ and I was not in denial anymore. I saw the extra weight, how my body looked in that dress… It hit me and I cried for three days straight.”

A few days before the horseracing event, Ntshikila says she went to several retailers and none had a G-cup strapless bra to go with her boob-tube dress.

“I had this anger in me and thought that the retailers were being selfish for not stocking more sizes for people like me. When the shop assistant told me ‘No, sisi, you won’t find a strapless bra in your size’ I was furious,” she says.

“I walked out of the mall with no bra but I was more determined than ever to wear my boob tube dress. I simply folded in the straps of my normal bra…I was so blind to the reality.

“When I looked at the picture later, I asked myself why I didn’t listen to the woman at the mall. At that time it was three months after giving birth to my oldest daughter so I attributed my weight gain to my pregnancy.

“I eventually said to myself that something has to change. And the first thing that came to my mind was that I needed to go on a diet.”

Over the years, Ntshikila had tried a number of crash diets and methods in an attempt to shed the kilos.

“I went to the pharmacy and looked at the diet pills and shakes… before 2011 there was nothing I didn’t try. Because of my job I travel a lot. I would get to a country or city and one of the first things I would ask is what are the people using to lose weight.

“I was desperate. I would drink all kinds of diet stuff and get terrible after-effects. I would continue eating and expect these things (diet methods) to perform miracles.”

In the months leading up to her wedding, Ntshikila lost up to 27kg through exercise and healthy eating. “I paged through wedding magazines and got angry when I didn’t see any fat brides. I was determined not to have anyone outshine me on my big day so I went to gym two times a day.”

She went back to her old ways soon after her wedding and piled on the kilos again.

“Siqalo, my husband was always okay with my weight, but I sometimes wished that he would give me an ultimatum and threaten to leave if I didn’t lose the weight. At some point I wished that I could get some kind of life-threatening disease, that would mean I couldn’t eat certain stuff.”

But all that has changed. Over the past year, Ntshikila has become popular on social media for her posts on fitness and healthy eating. Her Instagram account “Team Hlasela” (hlasela is an isiZulu word for “attack”) is followed by over 4 000 people. Her healthy meals, an array of breakfast fruit smoothies and vegetable-rich meals, all look like they were prepared by a professional chef.

Ntshikila, who refers to herself as “the self-made Twiggy”, is now a gym bunny who goes to gym five to six times a week and posts pictures of herself at gym.

“The first six months of 2012 were tough because I was angry. I would cry during the 20 minutes on the treadmill, my gym sessions were a mixture of sweat and tears… I needed that,” she says.

As a motivation tool, she keeps a journal and lists what she dislikes about her former self and why she turned her life around.

“The best best thing about now, is that I am doing this for me. I have my husband and my kids, but it’s more about me now.”

In the first six months of 2012 she lost more than 20kg.

“After that I got to a point where I didn’t focus on the kilos but more on feeling better about myself… so I can live longer for my girls and husband.

“I slowly realised the damage I was doing to myself and health. Thank God I was not too late and not diagnosed with any chronic disease such as diabetes,” she says.

Ntshikila’s advice is cut out fat in your diet and eat according to your blood type.

“A skipping rope is the best thing you can own if you can’t afford the gym or don’t have time to exercise. Just skipping for 30 minutes every day before you shower in the mornings or after dinner will make a huge difference.

“I am a happier person now. I’m seeing a lot of things that were lacking in my life. I am much kinder to people because I don’t feel that people are looking at me and judging me on how I look.”

And she has a newfound respect for food.

“I have been big all my life and I am done (with that). I am now like a Duracell battery, I just keep going and going.”

Cape Argus

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