Ditching her energy drink and fizzy pop addiction helped Busted super-fan Stacey Bell shed five stone and regain her confidence to socialise - a feat bass player Matt Willis has personally congratulated her for.
At her heaviest the 30-year-old tipped the scales at 18st 1lb thanks to a largely liquid daily diet which included a litre of coke and at least four energy drinks.
Stacey, who lives with her mum and dad at the family home in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, says she would more often than not skip breakfast, lunch and dinner in favour of one larger calorie-loaded meal a day, which typically could include burger, chips and onion rings.
"I wasn't eating a lot," she tells Nottinghamshire Live, "but I was eating all the wrong and worst kind of things."
A former size 22, the slimmer, who has previously battled mental health issues, says her turning point was seeing a photograph of herself at a Busted concert and being unable to fit into her favourite band shorts.
"I was so distressed; the t-shirt was really tight on me and now it's more like a dress," Stacey says of her five stone weight loss, which has brought her down to a size 14 and 13st 4lb.
"I feel like a new woman since losing weight. In fact, I look so different that people who I haven’t seen for a while often can’t believe I’m the same person. For me though it’s the change on the inside that’s been the greatest. I’m happier, healthier and much more confident now," she says.
In a bid to lose weight Stacey decided to join Hucknall Slimming World after seeing her aunt and uncle shed the pounds attending the classes and following the programme.
She says: "My weight impacted on so many aspects of my life, from struggling to find clothes that I like to fit to not being able to do simple everyday tasks without feeling tired and out of breath.
"Before I lost the weight I hated having my photo taken and whenever I saw pictures of myself I knew that my smile wasn’t real, yet now I’m beaming.”
Stacey's weight loss also resulted in her being named the Hucknall group's Greatest Loser 2019 and has greatly improved her health.
At one time the slimmer says she was using her stronger asthma pump at least four times a day but now she only has to occasionally use her weaker one.
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The icing on the cake was being congratulated on her weight loss by Busted's Matt Willis who not only tweeted her but also told her in person.
"I was at a record signing at Rough Trade in Nottingham and he remembered me from social media. He said I was 'weight loss girl'. It made my day," she says.
Stacey would like to lose another stone and to do so she is keeping up her new healthier diet of eating three meals a day and swapping energy drinks for sugar free squash and water.
"I have cereal for breakfast, a pasta salad for lunch and Diet Coke chicken is my favourite thing for dinner, it's the only time I have fizzy drinks now," she says.
Tanya Young, who runs the Tuesday 9am and Wednesday 9am/11am Slimming World groups in Hucknall, says: “The changes we’ve seen in Stacey are incredible. I hope her success will inspire other people locally who’d like to lose weight by forming new lifestyle habits and become happier and healthier to take action.
"There’s a warm welcome waiting at Slimming World and, just think, if you start today you could feel like a completely new person just like Stacey.”
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