Nikki Rees is using Instagram to spread an empowering message about weight and body image. The British mom, who embarked on a fitness journey in May 2015, went viral two years later when she posted a dramatic side-by-side transformation photo and revealed that she still weighs the same: 138 pounds.
Now Rees, 36, is back in the news after sharing her diet “secret” with her 251,000 followers.
“I still eat cake more days than not . . . I still drink Prosecco, I still can’t seem to resist stealing snacks from the kids’ junk food cupboard,” Rees wrote on June 27. In the accompanying side-by-side images, she is seen at age 34 and at age 36. Her weight is 138 pounds in both, but at 36 she has six-pack abs and her muscles are noticeably more defined.
Rees went on to explain that two years ago, gorging on foods such as pizza and fries would send her into a downward spiral and fuel her excuses to quit exercising. “Now these same foods (and my passion for them) fuel my ambition to condition my body,” she continued. “If a day happens where I binge eat cake and a tub of water . . . I leave it at just that . . . a day that happened. It doesn’t derail my goals like it used to. I don’t see it as a reason to give up.”
The mom of Charlie, 12, and Maddie, 2, signed off with an inspirational message: “On those days when it all goes horribly wrong . . . as it inevitably will . . . just remove your face from the tub of butter . . . replace the lid and continue on exactly as you were . . . motivated, goal oriented and #healthyAF.”
A post shared by Nikki Rees (@activelyrees) on May 4, 2017 at 12:00pm PDT
The 5-foot-7 Rees began Kayla Itsines’ Bikini Body Guides program shortly after giving birth to her daughter.
“Four months after the baby arrived, I visited my sister in London for her birthday. We had planned a big night out to celebrate and I remember convincing myself that if I could squeeze my postpartum body into a tight dress. I would be able to feel good about myself,” Rees tells Us Weekly exclusively. “I did everything I thought would help. I got a spray tan, I painted my nails, I blew out my hair and armed myself with a pair of super-strength control Spanx.”
Only the evening didn’t go according to plan. “My tummy forced its way over the top of my Spanx, which had rolled down, and I was literally bulging through the midsection of my too-tight dress,” Rees tells Us. “I felt so terrible about myself that I refused to take off my coat and sat through the whole dinner with my arms wrapped tightly over my stomach.”
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That night, Rees decided she would change her life. “I posted my first fitness Instagram the very next day,” she says. “And I’ve been posting every day since.”
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