A chip addict who ballooned to 280 pounds scoffing down four bags a day managed to lose half her body weight naturally — without using any jabs.
Lisa Bernett, 44, tipped the scales at a whopping 285 pounds at her heaviest and found herself struggling to even get up the stairs.
She would gorge on entire grab bags of Doritos, two takeaways a week costing over $65 a week as well as eating “huge” portions of cheesy pasta.
But after Lisa’s husband told her he wanted to lose weight, she decided to follow suit as she didn’t want to be bigger than him.
Having previously tried the “fad” diets without success, Lisa instead decided to use a calorie app MyNetDiary instead of weight loss jabs like Mounjaro.
And within two years she had slimmed down from a size 24 dress to a slender size 8 after shedding 145 pounds all by changing her diet and exercising.
Lisa, from Boreham Wood, Hertfordshire, said: ” I would never used the jabs as I do not believe it teaches you about fat loss or educating yourself about food.
“It’s a good tool to have but if you have no other tools then how will you keep it off?
“There’s no way I would want to stay on injections for the rest of my life in the fear that if I stop I’ll gain.
“I also didn’t feel comfortable going down the surgery route.”
Lisa, who runs a funeral directors, added: “When my husband said he wanted to lose weight that set the bells of.
“I didn’t want him to be smaller than me, I’m quite old fashioned and I thought ‘if he’s smaller me than he can’t protect me.’
“My lifestyle before was pretty bad – I didn’t move.
“I’d take the kids to school, go to work and then come home and sit on my backside.
“Walking, going up the stairs, it was hard.
“My knees hurt and I got out of breath really quickly.
“Thankfully, I never had any health issues, but I got chest infections quite a lot.”
After deciding to make a change, Lisa knew she had to address her diet.
She said the calorie counting app allowed her to still maintain her bigger portions, whilst prioritising protein and fibre.
She switched the heavy cheesy pasta for baked potato with grilled chicken and salad and soon began to notice a change.
Combined with an exercise regime of an initial 10,000 steps a day – upped to 20,000 – and regular gym activity, Lisa managed to shed the pounds.
She is now able to pick “anything” off the clothing rack in a store after previously ‘hating’ shopping.
Lisa said: “My diet was poor. I wouldn’t ever eat breakfast.
“Lunchtime I’d either eat loads of pasts with cheese, or I’d have lots of bagels with cheese.
“For a snack I’d have a whole bag of chips with a dip – I didn’t realize a whole bag of chips and a dip was probably my whole daily allowance for food.
“I’d have takeout twice a week and big portions of home cooked meals.
“I always had to finish my plates.
“Now, I use a calorie app.
“I reeducated myself about food and now I know when I’m going to lose weight and when I’m not.
“My portions are big but they’re big with calorie dense food.
“I priorities my protein goal, fiber goal and a calorie goal.
“As long as I hit these goals then it doesn’t matter about my fat and carbs.
“As soon as you cut out food, your body wants it.
“When people say they’re going to have 1,200 calories, it’s not sustainable and then you binge over the weekend.”
She also incorporated a gym routine into her new lifestyle – despite previously “running out crying” as she thought everyone was looking at her before eventually conquering her fears.
Lisa said: “I started off with walking 10,000 steps a day. I did that for three months but now I’m doing 20,000 a day.
“I got a gym membership, and I walked in and it was so overwhelming.
“You feel like everyone’s looking at you and I ran out crying.
“So I got a PT, and I had him for three or four months.
“I liked the boxing part of it so I started Muay Thai which I did three times a week – sometimes five times a week.
“Now I’m at another place where I have gym sessions and do martial arts every morning.
“I do that Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then on Tuesday and Thursday I go to gym and do weights.”
Despite all her success, Lisa says since losing the weight people around her have “changed.”
She explained: “A lot of people didn’t think I’d stick to it, and I get that as I’d probably think the same thing.
“I know there are other people who are waiting for me to put the weight back on.
“People change when you lose weight.
“I’m not that fat friend anymore and everyone likes to have a fat friend.
“Strangers are also nicer to me.
“I used to hide in the back in photos, now I want to be in the front – I love it.
“I eat properly during the week so I know I can have a big plate of food at a restaurant on Saturday, and I don’t feel like people are watching or judging me, but if I was big, they’d be judging me.”
Lisa said her advice for others who are looking to do the same is to “take accountability.”
She added: “Not everyone’s perfect.
“Even on the days you find hard, and you want to reach out for something bad, do it, but weigh it and take accountability, then rein it back in the following day.”
Lisa’s before diet:
Breakfast: None
Lunch: Big portion of cheesy pasta
Snack: chip bags
Dinner: Home cooked big portion or takeout
Lisa’s diet now:
Breakfast: 60 grams of porridge, 28g vanilla protein powder, 200ml almond milk, 80g blueberries
Lunch: potato, 300g tuna in brine, tin of sweetcorn, 50g spring onion and mix with 50ml lite mayo, 20ml balsamic vinegar.
Dinner: Baked potato 300g, bowl of salad, spring onions, beetroot and balsamic vinegar, with grilled chicken and peri peri salt.
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