“Felt Like I Had an Elephant Sitting on My Chest”: Coping With Her Husband’s Loss Left a Woman Morbidly Obese Until She Vowed to Change Her Life

Grief always hits where it hurts the most. For Beny Hadid, life went downhill when her husband suddenly passed away due to pancreatic cancer. With two young boys to look after, she had little to no time to process the massive life-altering incident. As life moved on before she could, Hadid resorted to coping using the only medium she deemed accessible—food.

What she needed was a lifestyle change and she soon realized that. Turning a new leaf wasn’t easy, but Hadid was determined. Losing weight and gaining confidence were her two main goals. Did she achieve them? Speaking to Heather Eastman of Bodybuilding.com in 2022, here’s how Beny Hadid changed her life for the better.

Change in the books for Beny Hadid when alarm bells rang

In the interview, Hadid confessed that while she knew she needed to change, the only incident that pushed her to take the first step was a hospital visit. Once, she had a terrible ordeal with conditions of hypertension coupled with high blood pressure—something that stemmed from unhealthy eating habits she picked up after her husband’s demise. This prompted her to set forth on her journey to healthy living.

Describing her deteriorating health situation, Hadid opened up, “It felt like I had an elephant sitting on my chest. I was very scared.” She began by cutting down on her processed food intake since she knew that was the root cause. Adding more protein and eating a balanced diet as much as she could, was her first step in her weight loss journey. While her body consciousness prevented her from going to the gym, she began working out at home.

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However, once she began noticing the impact her changed lifestyle had, she built up the courage to go to the gym. However, Hadid felt lost. The equipment present was new and the mother of two felt uncomfortable approaching people. But once she got the hang of it, she was hooked! She confessed, “Going to the gym was like a drug”.

Life was still tough. But Hadid now had the strength and confidence to cope. Within a year or two of working out, the mother of two discovered her love for boxing and her ability to remain disciplined. Today, she motivates new gym-goers, shows off her progress, and believes that if she could pull this off, no milestone was too tough to cross.

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