Weight loss wonder: Rotorua’s Makuini Warbrick loses 50kg through diet and exercise

* Weight loss: Rotorua woman Makini Warbrick reveals how she lost 50kg through diet and exercise

*She reveals how she’s changed her diet and what kind of exercise she does

* I also eat snacks like hot chips and butter chicken.

If losing 50kg in just over a year isn’t impressive enough, Makuini-Warbrick is proud to have achieved the weight loss naturally through diet and exercise.

The 32-year-old Rotorua accountant is now a fit, slim woman with her eyes set on her next big fitness event.

But last year, she became so unwell that it was difficult for her to breathe and carry out daily activities.

Her efforts were praised by her trainer Keris Brown, who said it was a “breath of fresh air” to find someone “doing it the natural way”.

Mr Warbrick said: Rotorua Daily Post She had always been a “bigger girl” but her weight had “bulged up” over the years and last year she found herself at 125kg.

“I got the coronavirus and got really depressed. I didn’t cope very well. I was out for a month and it took me at least two months to get right.”

Shortly afterwards, her decline in fitness became apparent when she took part in a whānau event walking around Mt Tarawera.

“I was so out of breath. Then I woke up one morning last August and decided to go to the gym.”

Warbrick had a gym membership but rarely went.

“Then I woke up the next morning and thought, ‘Let’s go again.'”

At the time, she was obsessed with the TV series, and it was what drove her to keep going to the gym and watching on her phone while riding her bike or treadmill.

Dan Ward from Flex Fitness wrote her a training program and meal plan.

“It was easy to follow because I just put it in the app. It was a normal diet and I knew what to eat every day.”

Warbrick continued to work out at the gym and watch his diet, and the weight started to come off.

“That’s when I started to get a little bit of a bug. I was playing with people more than I was working out.”

Before the summer, she was invited to join Brown’s swim group as part of Jogging the Power Poles, a group where people of all fitness levels train together.

Next, she was having a conversation about the Iron Maori event.

“I remember thinking that maybe I could go someday, but at that stage I wasn’t riding a bike and I couldn’t run.”

“Then they said, ‘Hey, McQuiny, would you like to come for a bike spin session?'” And they said, “McQuiny, would you like to come to our running class?” “Yeah, I’ll give it a try. I can’t run,” I thought. Now it has turned into a bit of an addiction. ”

On November 4, she took to the starting line for the Half Iron Maori in Napier.

Not only did she complete the 2km swim, 90km bike, and 21km run in 6 hours and 45 minutes, but she also became the 31st woman to take home the title, finishing fifth in her age group.

The event culminated with a new milestone of 50kg weight loss.

She currently weighs 75kg and is in amazing shape.

Warbrick said her diet is protein-based and focuses on satiety and portion size.

She never ate bad food, but she ate too much bad food.

Instead of toast and jam for breakfast, she ate oats and a spoonful of protein powder. She ate rice cakes for her morning tea and made mini pizzas at work for lunch. She used a split muffin base and topped it with chicken, tomato, and cheese.

Warbrick eats fruit in the afternoon, and dinner is rice or potatoes with meat for protein and vegetables or salad.

She still occasionally ate her favorite foods, such as butter chicken, and would include sauces and dressings with her meals to make them palatable.

Warbrick said her secret wasn’t really a secret. “It’s just normal, simple food.”

“No fasting, no medicine, nothing like that.”

Given his training level, Warbrick knew he had to eat the right food, increase his protein and track his carbohydrates.

She trained every day, sometimes twice a day. She would either go for a long bike ride, run, or swim on the weekends.

“If I wasn’t feeling 100 percent I would have had a rest day, but I haven’t been particularly sick since training and I’m the one who gets a cold every year. I’m sleeping better and I always wake up feeling sore. Not at all.”

Warbrick’s favorite food was hot chips, and he would always eat a straight as a reward after finishing the Iron Maori Half.

Now she has her sights set on more triathlon events.

“I feel so much better. You won’t realize how much easier it will be to do basic things, tie your shoes, make your bed until you lose a lot of weight.” .”

She said that having people give her good comments helped her keep going, and admitted that several people didn’t recognize her that year.

The key to her success was participating in telephone pole jogs.

“It’s really amazing that you’re training without even realizing you’re training.”

Warbrick was still a “big girl” when she joined Brown’s swim group before last summer, but she didn’t realize she had already lost so much weight.

She had one wetsuit large enough to wear.

“To my surprise, she kept swimming and before I knew it she was swimming faster than everyone else in the lane. It was amazing.”

Warbrick continued to show up at other training sessions, Brown said.

“She silently bought a bike online and showed up with a new bike. Then she showed up for a ride or two.”

Brown remembers meeting her at Brown’s beginner triathlon session in the fall. Warbrick initially aimed to become a Quarter Ironman, but she soon realized she was “dominating” everyone and convinced her to aim higher.

“She continued to participate in all the training sessions, getting stronger and stronger and getting leaner and thinner. I am blown away by her quiet determination to just get through paralysis without any drama or selfies.”

Brown said Warbrick was able to steadily lose weight the old-fashioned way while still refueling for his training.

“I’m sure she’ll blow up a full Ironman like she did with her weight. Oh, and by the way, her wetsuit got too baggy, so now she’s wearing another , I’m wearing 4 sizes smaller.”

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist and Rotorua Daily Post For over 25 years, he has primarily covered police, courts, human interest and social issues.