It all started with a clothesline and a commitment and now Melton’s Karen Gatt is about 70 kilograms lighter and the director of her own fitness centre.
About eight years ago, Ms Gatt decided something needed to be done about her weight problem, except there was an obstacle holding her back.
She was 140 kilograms and embarrassed to leave her home.
She didn’t feel confident to step into a gym or even outside for a walk so she started a routine she could do from the comfort of her backyard – walking around the clothesline.
“I knew I needed to do some kind of exercise, but I couldn’t walk into a gym and I couldn’t be seen in public,” Ms Gatt said.
Ms Gatt started with five minutes a day, walking around the clothesline, and gradually increased to 10, 20 then 30 minutes of walking.
Combined with healthy and mindful eating, she lost 67 kilograms in 13 months.
Now the mother of two has opened The Clothesline Diet Club in Ravenhall.
“This is a place I wish I had at 140 kilograms,” Ms Gatt said.
“Each suburb has five to six gyms, yet every second person is obese,” she said.
“I have built a place for people to come in and be themselves.”
“An obese person can walk in and feel the connection straightaway – everybody supports each other,” she said.
“This is their clotheslines.”
Ms Gatt, who is now also a personal trainer, runs exercise circuits, nutrition workshops and wellbeing seminars at the centre, too, in a bid to help locals combat obesity.
As in the first month of opening in February, members collectively lost over 60 kilograms and up to 200cm, Ms Gatt said she couldn’t be prouder of the results.
Her motto “don’t wish for it, work for it” echoes in the success of her clients. Her next big goal is to start franchising across the state.
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