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Amy wasn't 100 per cent happy with how she looked on her wedding day

By Jo Abi|

Amy Melillo was surrounded by love as a child. Her memories are of her parents caring for her sister Jenna who had muscular dystrophy, her older sister Jasmine and spending a lot of time with her grandparents who fed her plenty of hearty German food.

"?My parents spent a lot of time caring for Jenna so I was in between houses, but it was always a loving environment," Aussie mum Amy, 35, tells 9Honey.

"It was a lot of dishes like goulash, schnitzel, fried potatoes in butter and a lot of gravy and a lot of pot roasts. I miss it."

Amy met her husband ?Mark in high school when she was just 16.

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Amy Healthy Mummy
Amy and husband Mark on their wedding day. (The Healthy Mummy)

"He was a couple of grades above me but we started dating and have been together ever since."

The couple has two children - Roman, 10, and Stella, eight.

"I would say I've always struggled with my weight," Amy tells 9Honey. "I was always a bigger kid ever since I was young."

Just before? she began dating Mark she started trying to actively lose weight.

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Amy Healthy Mummy
'I would say I've always struggled with my weight.' (The Healthy Mummy)

?"I went through dieting and exercising but it was more restricting food," she says. "I didn't have a lot of experience or education about what entailed a healthy lifestyle. It was nothing sustainable."?

She used the same weight loss strategies ahead?of her wedding.

"Again I just did the food restriction thing and exercise, but then I was working fulltime and I was busy and the excuses set in."

"I was always a bigger kid ever since I was young."

She began feeling tired and moody.

?During her first pregnancy she felt "sick a lot" but didn't have any serious?medical issues.

Following the birth of her second child she was keen to find a more sustainable way to stay on top of her health.

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Amy Healthy Mummy
She used the same weight loss strategies ahead?of her wedding. (The Healthy Mummy)

"I Googled more sustainable lifestyles because I'd tried all the diets and they were so restrictive," she explains. "I tried a 500 calorie diet, diet drops... they all worked but they weren't sustainable. I'd put all the weight back on.

"So I looked for something with meal plans and workouts and came across Healthy Mummy, which I use to this day."

Amy Healthy Mummy
Amy wanted to find a more sustainable way to live. (The Healthy Mummy)

The first two weeks were an adjustment as Amy struggled to get into a routine and deal with unhealthy cravings.

?"I think the shakes were what did it for me because they were so convenient," she says. "I didn't have to pack lunches which were another downfall because I wouldn't have time to pack lunch and end up eating junk food."

She began following the dinner recipes and found them easy to follow.?

Amy Healthy Mummy
'I think the shakes were what did it for me because they were so convenient.' (The Healthy Mummy)

"I like the tortilla Mexican stack that is like a lasagne and uses low-carb wraps and is layered like a lasagne," she says. "And I like the tray bakes which are one tray with protein and vegetables."

She also found taking weekly progress photos motivating, as she could see how her body was changing, even though the scales didn't reflect any weight loss.

"The scales didn't change too much, they did in the early stages, but the progress photos showed that I was changing. I also began to exercise more at the moment I love walking. I walk four or five times a week."

Amy Healthy Mummy
Exercise was key to her transformation. (The Healthy Mummy)

She lost 20 kilos and has been able to easily maintain her new-found health.

"It's nice to be able to throw clothes on and look in the mirror and feel happy. I like being in photos now, I'm no longer hiding," she shares.

"It goes beyond weight loss and the physical. It's just such a relief because I can do this every day with no restrictions and I can still enjoy a night out and have dessert here and there."

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