The woman lost 59 kg after the family event
AMERICA Having an eating disorder after the pain of losing a child, Amanda Bucci's weight increased to 115 kg, causing her to face many health risks.
Amanda Bucci, of Rhode Island, has suffered with a fat body since childhood. When she lost 36 kg in her 20s, she thought she had control her weight. However, after getting married at the age of 24 and having to abort the pregnancy, the woman came to eat and drink to ease her emotional pain. This made her gain 27 kg in just 6 months, peaking at 115 kg. Currently, the mother of two has made a miracle of losing 59 kg by changing her eating habits and lifestyle for the health of herself and her family.
Amanda Bucci before and after weight loss. Photo: Character Instagram
Amanda said both she and her husband carry the gene for a rare blood disorder (thalassemia), which makes pregnancy risky. Despite this, Amanda became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy baby girl. After that, the couple decided to have another baby in the hope that "the mother is round and square" like the first birth.
"After giving birth to our daughter Annabelle and finding she was healthy, we entered a second pregnancy with high hopes for a similar outcome," she said.
However, the second baby was diagnosed with thalassemia and the couple faced the difficult choice of aborting the pregnancy. Thalassemia is an autosomal recessive genetic disease. The ratio of men and women with the disease is about the same. Couples carrying the same hemolytic gene have a 25% chance of having a child with a disease, a 50% chance of carrying a disease gene and a 25% chance of having a normal child. Thalassemia patients will have blood clotting disorders, hemolysis, regular blood transfusions and lifelong treatment.
Amanda feels stuck after this traumatic event, so she turns to food to calm her nerves. Even so, she was determined to get pregnant again.
In 2018, after giving birth to her second daughter, Vivienne, Amanda decided to lose weight by making small lifestyle changes, such as walking and eating healthier. Gradually, she increased strength training such as 65 minutes of cardio a day combined with heavy lifting 5 days a week.
"One of the most important life changes I've ever made has been to focus on losing weight and improving my health. This is not only for me, but for the benefit of the whole family," Amanda said.
Now, exercise has become part of her daily routine and helps her feel good. Thanks to her weight loss and improved health, Amanda is able to enjoy life more and become an active, devoted mother to her children.
After losing weight, Amanda had excess skin in her lower abdomen, so she decided to remove it with abdominoplasty. Unfortunately, she had complications from anesthesia during surgery and was hospitalized for 10 days. The subsequent recovery was also an uphill battle for Amanda, but she overcame it successfully.
"I'm healthy again now. I'm glad I've improved my self-image. I feel confident in my skin," the woman said.