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EVITA MAGAZINE.SK
Us, as we are
Kristina
Weight loss is possible only when you like yourself!
After many unsuccessful attempts, KristIna Hubacová (35) managed to lose weight from an initial weight of 185 kg to her current weight of 80 kg. The weight started to come down after she realized that she would like not only her future body but also the entire journey of her weight loss...
Text: Evita Urbanikovà
Photo: Katarina Kincelová
Make-up: Lubica Krajñáková
Production: Petra Kalmanová
Kristina had spent only a few days in Slovakia. She was full of life and in a very good mood. We met her right before her flight back to Canada, where she lives. However, her story, with the title ‘SexySlovak’, lives on Instagram for women from all over the world to see.
“My parents left Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring in 1968 and emigrated to Calgary, Alberta in Canada. I was born in Canada. However, I still feel that I am Slovak. It’s a little bit strange that people leave their country for an American-type lifestyle, a different culture, and immediately after their arrival to the other country, they start to establish their own roots. My parents weren’t different. They were active members of the Slovak Culture Club for more than 40 years. At home, they made Slovak sausages, original Slovak bread, pickled gherkins, Slovak pasty, and wine, so we had all those tasty Slovak things whenever we wanted them.”
And this was the beginning of her story...
Kristina gained weight faster than her friends of the same age and gradually started to differ from them — due to her size. “As a child, my friends mocked me a lot due to my being overweight. I completely surrendered and allowed the obesity to stand directly in the path to all my joy. I wasn’t going out with my friends because I didn’t want to be the target of mocking. I used to break most of the chairs I sat on. My self-esteem was very low, so I wasn’t going to any clubs or bars to dance. As a teenager, I didn’t have any jeans because I couldn’t get any fitted to my size. I didn’t know the feeling when a boy invites you for a date. Many of these things, which I should have experience, bypassed me completely.”
Great home background...
Despite all of this, Kristlna didn’t fall into any depression or negative thinking. At home, I always felt infinite love and acceptance. Surprisingly, we didn’t eat much fast food at home. My mom was always telling me that homemade food was the best and she has called all the fast foods as the waste of North America. Mostly, I ate European bread, cheese, salamis, pasty, risotto, and pasta with thick sauces. We ate a lot of fried food and milk products. The biggest portions I ate in the evening. I was too shy to eat with other people and I was afraid
that they would mock me for every bite; therefore, I used to eat everything during the evening or at night. It was totally normal for me to wake up in the middle of the night and to bring something from the fridge into my bed. In the morning, I woke up in my bed that was full of empty wrappers and tissues. We always had some cakes. My mom was an awesome baker and in the fridge, there was always some sweet roll, cakes, or other desserts...
She knew her problem — she dreamed she had no problem...
it was clear to me that I was bigger and heavier than my friends but I was also aware of my good qualities, so it didn’t stress me a lot. My mom never commented about the bodies of other women, neither my body. She has never stood in front of a mirror and never looked at her body. She said that a woman can be beautiful at any weight. So, the bad feelings of my body weren’t created at home. Additionally, the only weighing scale we had at home was the one for weighing our homemade sausages. I dressed myself in comfortable clothes, so I could live with my size in acceptable harmony. Of course, I dreamed about small-size dresses I liked, about climbing a hill, or about the fact that a boy could possibly fall in love with me. Dreaming helped me a lot. I kept on dreaming and dreaming until I decided that I want to do something real about those dreams. I failed so many times and I was continually disappointed but the important thing was that I didn’t stop.”
Big turning point...
Kristina says that a turning point must come in the life of every woman who wants to change something. It will be a moment that will open your eyes, make you face reality without any protection filter, and kick you so hard that you will not stop until you reach your goal’
i was 23 years old, weighed 186 kg when my weight started to limit me and I couldn’t stand it anymore. One weird thing happened to me. I was in the mall and in the distance, I could see a gui — a very fat girl. I stared at her and said to myself that she has really crossed the line. After a while, I realized that I’m staring at myself, in a mirror, which was positioned in a new location. I wasn’t wearing any glasses on my eyes, so in the first few moments, I didn’t recognize myself. Then, reality struck, I realized that my fatness harms my body and soul a great deal. I decided to change everything. This decision was quiet — I decided to become my best friend, supporter, coach, and everything. I stopped comparing myself with others, and I’ve stopped doing the things that don’t help me in my weight-loss process at all.
I simply didn’t want another unsuccessful attempt. Moreover, I didn’t want anybody to know about my decision and to expect my next failure. For this reason, I had no coach, no nutritionist; I didn’t start with any calorie counting, etc. I started with very long walks that were truly on the edge of my physical abilities. And I put some weights on my wrists and ankles.
I go swimming a few times a week and I also try to work out at home. I do my own style of exercising, so I dance a lot. Cleaning your house can be great exercise, especially when your heart is pounding like a hammer. Today, I stay in good shape by athletic trainings, boxing, and yoga.
The long fight was worth it...
it doesn’t matter where you’re from, how you were brought up. or what your mama cooked on the weekend, you can lose weight, but you really need to want to do it. Compared to my past, I’m much happier today. I’ve experienced my first hike and climb in Banif, Alberta, Canada. I wore my first bikini, while I was on holiday in Mauritius, which was my first big trip. When I was obese, I couldn’t sit in the aircraft comfortably and I had many sores and scratches on my body. Today, I’m travelling comfortably and I’m living my dream!
Women from all over the world ask me on Facebook and lnstagram, how can they change their fife. I’m trying to help them. Instagram has really made our world much smaller now, where all of us, who want to, can know each other. Obese women from all over the world have exactly the same Ideas and thoughts, it doesn’t matter if they are from Europe or America. I’m happy that I’m able to help them. I’m working as a coach for obese women. It’s fun. From me, they get the support they’ve been missing. I can talk to them in a language they understand. From my own experience, I know their problems and they are not afraid to talk about them because they know that I won’t mock them. I’m teaching them how to buy food, how to cook — not only what to cook but also how much. I’m trying to teach them how to eat with discipline, how to maintain their diet, and how to get rid of all those thoughts full of food. The first and maybe the biggest victory is when a woman comes home and throws ALL unhealthy food in the garbage
Four basic tips to all who want to lose weight, finally...
1. Weight-loss is painful
However, nothing is more painful than the fact that you belong somewhere you don’t want to belong. We all hear that provocative voice in our head, which tells us that we can’t do it; we are not able to lose weight. Don’t listen to it. It’s not the right setting to reach your goal. At first, you have to set yourself for success and only after that, you can start... Be kind to yourself and not very strict. If you have decided to lose weight, love yourself and the whole process. Only self-love will give you the energy you need dunng a crisis. Put motivational quotes and pictures on the counters and appliances In your apartment — It will help.
2. Don’t forget that a short and strict diet will change nothing...
Only a complete change of lifestyle is really effective. Set real goals; start exercising with walks or something simple and easy. Don’t completely stop eating the food you love but you must begin to find their healthy alternatives. If you stop eating all the food you love at once, your nerves may ‘explode” and you will start to eat even more than before.
3. We eat to fill our stomach, not our heart...
Now, I’m talking about the night fridge robberies and eating at 2 am, 3 am, or 4 am. When you open the fridge door and you are reaching for something tasty, ask yourself - Am I really hungry? Or am I only stressed, tired, or sad, bored? If you did have a bit of chocolate, cheese, or another treat, don’t punish yourself. Tomorrow will be another day. Remember the self-love?
4. Get rid of the weighing scale...
It’s all about your mind, your change of approach to food, and making your body healthier. The objective is the process and not the result. You will feel’ the results and you don’t have to monitor it every day on the weighing scale.
