A woman who was addicted to fizzy drinks and Christmas snacks has dropped an impressive 9st in just one year.
Jessica Lovejoy, 32, enjoyed this year's festive season with a new look, after shedding an astonishing amount of weight in just 12 months.
The care worker weighed 18st in August of last year and was a size 22 before turning her life around.
Jessica, from Dapto, New South Wales, Australia, now weighs 8st 9lbs and says she has more control than ever at Christmas this year.
She said: “I would drink at least two litres of Coke a day and very rarely drank water, it was always fizzy drink.
“First thing in the morning fizzy drink last thing before bed fizzy drink then brush my teeth.
“I never had self-control, I remember making a cake and putting it in the oven and then not even waiting for it to be cooked before pulling it out.
“I would eat the cake mix because I just wanted to eat the cake mix.
“I went through this process of making a cake, but I had no self-control to wait for it to be cooked.
"I lacked willpower towards food and would frequently binge on snack foods like potato chips, biscuits, cake and chocolate.
"I would just eat with no consideration as to what was going into my body.
“I just decided that wasn’t how I wanted to do things anymore, I wanted to start taking care of myself in a different way, I want to love myself better.
“I gave away all of my snack food I love and replaced them with things that are healthier for me and would make me feel good.
“I don’t know where the willpower has come from, it’s just there.”
After suffering from pain in her knees and feet, Jessica saw her doctor.
Jessica said: “Last year I was working as a carer and it’s a very physical job, running around a lot, not having much time to sit down and I was getting a lot of pain in my knees and feet.
“I went to my doctor who had previously referred me to a physio for lower back pain which was great but, I knew that a lot of this would be helped by losing weight.
“I didn’t really want to acknowledge that because I enjoyed being unrestricted."
She added: “I began to buy healthy foods that I like to eat and kicked the unhealthy habits.
“I was on that weight loss journey for over a year and it’s great, I still focus on eating well and still have that self-control now.”
Before Diet
Breakfast: Nothing.
Mid-morning Snack: Nothing.
Lunch: KFC, Maccas, takeaway etc
Afternoon snack: chips, chocolate, biscuits
Dinner: usually meat and three veggies.
Dessert: chips, ice cream, chocolate, biscuits.
After diet
Breakfast: Sultana bran with almond milk, banana, two slices of Wholemeal bread with peanut butter or apricot jam. Cup of tea with skim milk and stevia.
Mid-morning Snack: Wholegrain crackers with peanut butter or Vegemite, or yoghurt with fruit, or corn thins with peanut butter. Also, overnight oats with protein powder, peanut butter or sugar-free maple syrup, apple sauce and cinnamon. Cup of tea.
Lunch: salad with chicken, ham or leftover meat from dinners such as pork, beef or prawns. Cup of tea.
Afternoon snack: Similar to mid-morning snack or maybe three Weetbix with almond milk.
Dinner: lots of veggies, serve of protein, usually chicken, pasta, potato or rice.
Or a veggie-full stir-fry.
Dessert (if applicable): fruit and yoghurt with honey toasted muesli and maybe prunes or an apple with peanut butter.
