Mom uses My Fitness Pal to help her get fit

An Australian mom has revealed how she went on her first diet at just 10 years old before deciding to prioritize strength over weights.

Brooke Nelly, 34, told news.com.au that she always had a toxic relationship with food as a child, coupled with a big physique.

The combination of these two factors led the Western Australian woman to restrict her food intake when she was only 10 years old.

“You look at other people and you think, ‘Why don’t I look like this,’ and you think the answer is just limit it,” Brooke said.

“This is what I carried with me a couple of years ago.”

Brooke had a son in 2020, but it took a decade before she could welcome him into the world due to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is associated with irregular periods, excessive hair growth, acne, obesity, reduced fertility, and increased risk diabetes.

After pregnancy, she reached 90 kilograms.

Up to this point, she spent most of her evenings watching Married at first sight with chocolate, but she wanted to show her son that there is more to life than nights on the couch.

“I needed to mend my relationship with food so I could be a better role model for my son because I don’t want him to grow up thinking that [constantly restricting is] just a normal way of looking at food,” she said.

“But at the same time, I also didn’t want him to grow up and think that eating his body healthy was bad too.”

Brooke downloaded the My Fitness Pal app, which she used to count calories.

“But then I found a trainer and a gym that really helped me figure out what I need to put into my body to feel my strength training, which I really enjoyed,” she said.

“Food has become more of a fuel for my workouts rather than helping me look a certain way. But My Fitness Pal – I don’t think I could have done it and made the same progress as without using it.”

Brooke said she used features like recipes and appreciated the tips and advice that came straight to her inbox.

She said she loves features such as the ability to add recipes rather than individual ingredients, and announcements about reaching protein or vitamin goals.

Brooke, who admitted to having a sweet tooth, said she also liked that the app alerted her when she was approaching her sugar ceiling — which she said was easy to do as she was upping her carbs for longer strength training sessions.

She added that it is much more than just tracking calories, and she owes her progress to the application and her trainer.

Brooke also said that her mentality had changed a lot compared to other times she tried to regain her health and she had a good reason for doing so.

Now Brooke is not worried about weights, she is focused on building strength, lifting weights and is a positive role model for her son.

Originally published as Mom Uses My Fitness Pal to Help Her Fitness Journey