A mum who dropped seven dress sizes has revealed how she managed to lose her weight.
Nicola Harper, 52, has lost five stone since starting her weight loss journey on October 18, 2018.
The 52-year-old, from Whitwick, Leicestershire, said she originally started losing weight for health reasons before the desire to shed more weight got even stronger.
She was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes which was caused by taking a long term dose of steroids to treat her angioedema.
The financial assistant also enjoyed a regular diet of junk food and takeaways.
When Nikki initially started losing weight, she weighed 16st seven but now she weighs 11st three. At her heaviest, she weighed 18st two.
Doctors told her that she had lost muscle weight from her having uncontrolled diabetes for “a long time”.
She said: “I was left on steroids for too long by my doctors without a review which caused my diabetes.
“My angioedema is now sorted by antihistamines but I had to wean myself off the steroids gradually.”
Nikki started off slow with the weight loss by cutting down on things like chocolate and takeaways.
She says she eventually reached a plateau before realising she needed to do more to shift the weight.
The mum-of-one started exercising much more in her spare time including long eight-mile walks at the weekend and walking at least five miles a day.
She added: “I used to hate having my picture taken but now I don’t mind. My confidence has just skyrocketed.
“I feel ten times better than I used to. Losing this weight has made me happier and more confident than I’ve ever been.
“I tried loads of things like keto diets and intermittent fasting but the real thing that’s going to help you lose weight is eating less and exercising more. It's calories in, calories out.
“There’s no real secret to it at all. Eat less and move more. Something that really changed my shape was walking five miles every day.
“I’m not 100 per cent happy with my shape and I want to lose another eight pounds and work towards toning my shape”.
