Unathi on her weight loss: 'A year ago I was not happy with my body'

Unathi on her weight loss: 'A year ago I was not happy with my body'

Unathi is reflecting on her 30kg weight loss. She says it takes a lot of hard work but it is worth every minute in the gym.

Unathi on her weight loss:  'A year ago I was not happy with my body'
Unathi Nkayi/ Instagram (@unathi.co)

New year, new body? Scores of people are rushing to the gym in January to work on their fitness goals. 

Media personality, Unathi Nkayi, says "if you want it, you can have it". The 43-year-old lost a whopping 30 kilograms when she began her weight loss journey a decade ago. 

She didn't follow fad diets or turn to surgery to lose weight. Unathi put in the hours at the gym and started eating healthy meals. 

She maintains her weight loss with a strict fitness routine. The 'Idols SA' judge says her routine took a knock during the lockdown as she did work out as much as she would have liked to. 

"A year ago I was NOT happy with my body coz of lockdown," she wrote on Instagram. Unathi says she picked up some weight which led to her daughter thinking she had a bun in the oven. 

"My daughter thought she was getting a younger sibling (which she still wants now) and would tell everyone how excited she was at the prospect. I had regressed with my body goals," she added. 

Unathi says she made a promise to herself at the end of 2020 to get her fitness back on track in 2021. 

"On NYE 2020 I went for a sunset run ALONE at the stairs and promised myself to make sure that I would feel VERY different this time round Dec 2021. Which I did because I kept my promise to myself. Good luck with your goals. You’re WORTH it beloved. I look at these pics to remind me of why I started. 2012 vs 2022."

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Unathi shared some of her weight loss tips with Women's Health in 2013. She revealed that goal-setting was a big part of her success. 

"Buy a garment you’re aiming to fit into, but don’t get on the scale... I always push myself to the best of my ability," she told Women's Health

But her biggest weapon of all was not giving up  - especially on those days when she didn't feel like getting out of bed to work out.

"I have had to work for it. Every day I have had to choose my dreams and that comes with work. Wanting to be happy has meant I have had to wake up and WORK on my happiness," she wrote on Instagram in 2021

Her hard work paid off. Unathi went from a size 40 to a size 33 in the first few years of her weight loss journey! 

ALSO READ: Don't be a quitter! How to stick to your fitness goals in 2022

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