Daniel

Tara says that both her boys are doing just great. Daniel kept up with biathlon after filming finished (that was the sport the family did as their fitness challenge), and only recently switching to swimming because he wants to do lifeguarding. “He is now doing his bronze star and junior lifesaving on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so he is keeping pretty active,” says Tara, “over the summer he decided that he really liked swimming so we decided to pursue that.”

Daniel’s brother Joshua is also doing well. “Oh my gosh, he just doesn’t stop, that one,” says Tara, “he is active in tae kwon do twice a week and he also does Irish dance, which he keeps coming home with medals from.” 

Daniel is in grade 10 now and is doing much better in school this year. Joshua is in grade 7 and just loves it. “Daniel’s recent parent teacher interviews were the absolute best that we’ve had in 11 years of school,” says Tara.

Tara says that being on the show helped her to improve her family’s eating habits. “I was conscious before, and I knew what I was supposed to be doing, but it didn’t seem to matter. It is easier now that the kids know more about food through being on the show,” she says, “now the kids are apt to comment on whether we are eating healthy or not as much as I do. Going on the show helped the kids get on board with healthy eating.”

Tara had a couple of setbacks in the past year and did put weight on, but managed to get back on track by “working her butt off” and is now lighter than she was at the end of her X-Weighted journey. “I’ve learned a lot, and I now know that I can do it by working out and eating properly the majority of the time. I know what I have to do in order to lose weight,” she says, “it’s a lifelong journey, the weight won’t just come off overnight.”

Watching their episode was a real eye-opener, and Tara says that doing so has helped her to become a better parent. “I’m not as grumpy towards the kids as I used to be. I try to take things in my stride and know that screaming and yelling just didn’t get me anywhere. Sometimes I relapse, I’m not perfect, but I’m so much better these days,” she says, “I know that doing things the same way never gets you any different results so I had to change the way I react to them. I think I’m a better parent now than I was.”

“Going on the show was one of the best things that I’ve ever done, and it was really good for our family,” Tara says.