Since becoming a breakout star on Married At First Sight back in 2019, fans have followed along Jules Robinson’s impressive and very relatable weight loss journey.
Now, a year after Jules and her husband Cam Merchant welcomed their first child Oliver into the world, the mother-of-one has urged other new mums to shift their focus away from simply becoming “thin”.
“I don’t want anyone to feel I am letting them down by losing weight,” she told 9Honey.
“I’ve been a size 10 and I’ve been a size 18. I’ve always felt confident. This is a healthy choice for me. I want to lose the weight before my next pregnancy. I want to have another child so for me personally, I didn’t want to put on another 20 kilos on top of the 20 kilos I put on when I had Oli.”
Jules, who said she loved watching her body grow during her first pregnancy, said she felt “ready” to lose her baby weight eight months after having Oli.
“You have to be patient with yourself. So for the first eight months I wasn’t interested in losing weight,” she said, adding that she hopes to give Oli a sibling as soon as possible.
Jules said that while she was subjected to body-shaming online trolls following her time on MAFS, there were also fans who praised her for embracing her gorgeous curves.
“I have been called fat at every size in the last few years. If I let the public dictate to me how I felt about my body I would be in a sad state. I can only hope I have shown my true confidence at any size and inspired women to feel good at any shape and size,” she said.
Jules, who created her own shapewear line, Figur, also had some words of encouragement for other women struggling with body positivity: “No matter what size you are you can feel great.”
In December, Jules revealed to WHO that at her heaviest she weighed nearly 100kg, adding that her weight has fluctuated over the past 18 months.
Since becoming a Jenny Craig ambassador, Jules has lost 20kg in 24 weeks, saying she didn’t want to rush the process.
“I’m wearing a size 12 now and I couldn’t be happier. I basically ate the Jenny Craig meals, did daily walks and gym workouts and I had a weekly check-in with my coach, which really helped keep me on track. Because I’m a full-time working mum, the meal delivery, while I was doing that, was a game changer because I didn’t have to think too hard about food,” she said.
As for Cam, Jules said her husband and former MAFS co-star couldn’t be more supportive of her journey.
“It’s funny, because as part of my advertising campaign with Jenny Craig, I have this life-size ‘before’ cardboard cut-out of me – which is now at home. When Cam saw it, he was like, ‘Wow, you can really see the difference’,” she said.
“He’s so amazing though, he always tells me that he just loves me for me, no matter what I look like. He’ll say, ‘I only ever just think of you as being my beautiful wife.’ He’s really just so supportive of everything that I choose to do. I’m very lucky.”