A grandmother lost more than one third of her bodyweight in a stunning transformation by making changes to her diet.
Laynie Nesbitt tipped the scales at 19 stone at her heaviest during the first coronavirus lockdown in June 2020.
When she could hardly even walk without getting out of breath and was borderline diabetic with high blood pressure, the 58-year-old woman decided to fight the flab.
The mother of five was also told, years prior, she would not qualify for breast reconstruction surgery until she lost weight, having undergone a mastectomy following breast cancer treatment.
Laynie ditched unhealthy meals for more nutritious alternatives, and reassessed her portion control, Manchester Evening News says, and, by April 2021 she was down to her goal weight of 11 stone 7lbs and a healthy body mass index BMI of 25 - a weight she has maintained ever since.
Her previous BMI of 45 classified her as clinically obese.
During lockdown, the gran had a chance conversation with a fellow mum she knew, Kelly Caffery, who had just started an online diet and fitness coaching business.
Laynie signed up to be one of the original members of the group, paying £20 a month for personalised diet plans and to join Kelly's online community of women aiming to lose weight and live healthy lives.
"I remember having a chat with Kelly and telling her how I was still waiting for my reconstruction surgery but they wouldn't do it because of my weight. Kelly said to me: 'please let me help you,'" Laynie, of Salford, Greater Manchester, said.
"She had just started her online weight loss forum at the start of lockdown. But she said it was calorie counting, and I'd always been a big eater, so I thought there's no way I can do it. She said 'just think about it and come back to me'.
"I thought you know what, I should just give this a try and it's honestly been life-changing for me. I absolutely love it, and it has made me think a whole different way about food.
"When I did Slimming World it was all about 'free food' so that just made me put more on my plate. But with Kelly’s way, I'm now actually thinking about what I eat, I'm mindful about the choices I'm making.
"When I was on Slimming World, I used to be addicted to Muller Light yoghurts. They used to be classed as 'free food', although they now have one syn point, and I would honestly eat six pots a day without even thinking about it.
"I had no idea I was consuming almost 600 calories in those yoghurts, and that was before adding up everything else I was eating during the day."
Signing up with Kelly, Laynie was talked through the macros (nutrients like carbs and protein) and calories she needed to be consuming each day for a healthy weight loss, while taking into account her lifestyle and her likes and dislikes.
She was set on a 1,400 calorie a day plan, and was stunned to lose nine pounds in the first week.
Laynie continued: "I think the idea of free food to someone who overeats is that 'you can eat that, it’s free'. But Kelly has helped me so much in understanding about food, about why I was craving so much, and tackling that.
"I've always done a lot of cooking, but before I'd be tasting it as I go, I'd make myself a sandwich while cooking, and then think 'I’ve had nowt to eat' so I’d then sit down to a big home-cooked meal. They used to be massive portions.
"Don’t get me wrong I do still home cook for everybody, but I will swap potatoes for sweet potato, I use yoghurt instead of cream, and courgette lasagne sheets instead of pasta for example. It's making healthy swaps and just being mindful how much I’m shovelling in.
"We don’t eat pasta very much anymore, because I’ve now realised that it made me bloat. So I’d think I was full, but once the bloat goes I’d then think I’m hungry again, when I wasn't."
She has slimmed down from a dress size of 24 to a size 12. But for Laynie, the journey has never been about the way she looks, but all about how she feels and getting healthy.
She added: "I've never lost this amount of weight before, I don't think I've been this slim since school days. I did it to help me on the inside. It’s not about vanity for me anymore, I've done this for my health not for my Instagram feed.
"I always thought when I saw women who have slimmed down like this, 'oh they must be in the gym all the time'. But as Kelly says: 'your muscles are built in the kitchen - it’s all in the food' and that's been so true for me.
"I lost most of the weight without doing hardly any exercise, I hate the gym. I could hardly breathe just walking before.
"But the more weight I was losing, the more steps I was able to get in each day. I love to walk now, I get in 15,000 steps a day just taking my two dogs out for walks. I've even walked up hills like Kinder Scout and Scafell Pike, there's not a cat in hell's chance I'd have done that before this."
Laynie, a support worker for adults with learning disabilities, is particularly proud that her weight loss has inspired her family and friends to make healthier choices too. Her husband Mark Nesbitt, 60, has lost four stone, and a number of her female friends have signed up to Kelly's online community to follow her lead.
Laynie said: "Because I no longer have any rubbish foods in my house, my husband has got on board with it too and lost four stone. Both of us were borderline diabetic, high blood pressure, you name it we had it, but are now back in the healthy ranges.
"My husband always used to love his chocolate, he'd eat a whole family-sized bar of Dairy Milk every night. But now I've swapped it, I buy the small 20g bars of Moser Roth 70 per cent cocoa dark chocolate from Aldi, and that's just enough at night-time before he goes to bed.
"It give him that sweet treat without making your sugar spike which makes you start craving other things if you eat it earlier in the day."
The one big disappointment for Laynie though is that despite slimming down as doctors advised her to, she is still waiting for her breast reconstruction surgery. She has been told by Wythenshawe's Nightingale Hospital she remains on the waiting list there.
