When old friends or acquaintances walk past Rachel Nelson without a second glance, she is not offended, in fact, a sense of pride washes over her.
The successful mother of two and CEO has become unrecognizable after deciding to put herself and her health first.
She lost 55 pounds in 11 months, broke up with her long-term partner, and changed her mental health to become radiant and happy.
Speaking to FEMAIL, the 46-year-old Bondi manager explained that her “health kick” started when she was caring for her daughter in hospital.
Rachel Nelson is the strongest and happiest she’s ever been after she lost 55 pounds and put herself first
The mother of two barely noticed she was gaining weight – then one day she realized she was a shell of herself
“We spent months in Westmead and the Ronald McDonald House with a trauma-related injury and that’s where I first started using SWIISH supergreens as a way of just trying to have energy to get through my day,” she said.
As CEO, Rachel spent a lot of time traveling – her hospital stay with her daughter forced her to “look at her priorities” and identify her ailing health.
She realized that she was slowly gaining weight and had become a shell – always putting work and family ahead of her own needs.
At the same time, her relationship broke down.
Rachel tried exercising and dieting, but nothing helped, so she went to her doctor and asked for help.
She told FEMAIL she decided to put herself first – left an unhappy relationship and focused on her health
They had a sobering conversation and her doctor suggested gastric band surgery to get on top of her weight.
“It wasn’t until I looked at my life holistically and at the reasons why the weight wasn’t shifting that I could begin to address the root cause,” she said.
“Once I could deal with the adrenal fatigue and stress, the rest would fall into place.”
Her failing relationship was a sticking point for the businesswoman.
“The relationship had definitely taken a huge toll on my health and I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue from constant stress,” she said.
“I ended up spending two weeks in the cardiac ICU because of the impact stress had on my heart. Something had to change,” she added.
After her hospital stay, Rachel made the decision to end her relationship and focus on her own health.
“Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to actually become the person you’re destined to be. Life has certainly changed since then,” she said.
She now feels “the best she’s ever felt,” and attributes that to her decision to emphasize her own needs.
Rachel said she needed to focus on her mental health before her physical health could improve
“Once the weight started to come off, it became clearer that the work we put into our bodies for mental health soon translates into physical and overall health.
“The change in my confidence as a person has increased tremendously, physically and emotionally, which has been a priority after years of neglect,” she said.
Rachel says consistency has been key to losing weight and keeping it off.
“It was hard to be disciplined when you’re not in a good place mentally, but being consistent even on the days when you just didn’t want to move was key for me,” she said.
She now feels younger and better than in years
“My kids deserved a mother who was healthy and positive and I wanted to show them that it would be more than okay and that we can set and achieve goals.”
After a while, exercise became part of a normal day for the mother – who now enjoys running or taking a long walk with her children.
She has also changed her tact at work.
“I am now committed to health and wellness in my personal and professional life by detouring back to what I did professionally and using my lived experience to now focus on employee health and wellness,” she said.
She focuses on workplace psychological safety management and effective DE&I strategies and training, as well as compassion coaching to ensure her staff feel safe.
“I am extremely proud to use my lived experience in lecturing on psychological safety in the workplace and creating risk management plans that, as we know, are related to mental and psychological health,” she said.
“The mental strength I have gained from being where I was years ago, broken, unhappy and seeing no way out to now knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that I can accomplish something is remarkable. I’m not afraid to take risks and take on new challenges,” she said.
Rachel said she had to “show up completely for herself” during her health journey.
“I completely cut out alcohol and that definitely created a healthier foundation to be able to exercise more consistently,” she said.
Her outlook on life has completely changed in the past year
“I started incorporating SWIISH into my morning routine to initially help with my energy and overall health support, but it quickly became apparent that the adrenal fatigue that was affecting my metabolism began to heal quickly, consistent with the time I started taking taking the SWIISH supplements,” she said.
Rachel shares her story to encourage other people to take a holistic approach to their health.
She says it’s important to identify anything that’s getting in the way of your physical or mental health and figure out if you’re better off without it.
The mother prides herself on being unrecognizable and believes that she is mentally and physically in the best shape of her life thanks to her efforts.