Woman sees 4st weight loss after ditching secret eating habit
Alice Garrett says the majority of her weight loss was a result of two easy lifestyle changes: walking and eating healthily.
A woman who would binge eat and secretly sneak food into her room most nights has made a major lifestyle change resulting in a four stone weight loss.
Alice Garrett, 24, from Milton Keynes, said she gained so much weight she was not able to walk up a flight of stairs and was losing her hair.
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"When I was at uni, I would wake up, get a Deliveroo takeaway, eat all day as well as secret eating and hiding it. If everyone was asleep, I would go and eat more and get a takeaway or go to the shop," she explains.
"If I was sad, I would eat, and if I was happy or excited, I would eat. At home, I would also go downstairs and binge the fridge at night. It was a comfort thing I did, and it was all in my head for no reason."
She adds that her weakness was carbohydrates, and that she would eat eight slices of toast, feel guilty, and begin the binge eating cycle again.
She decided to make a change, however, after she was questioned by friends and family who were concerned about her dramatic weight gain.
"Something just sparked in me. I was so unhappy, and I had such low confidence. I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath. I was ill all the time, my hair would fall out - I felt so rubbish, and I struggled to move around," she adds.
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"I knew I needed to do something about it. All I did was binge drink and comfort eat. I was drinking and going out most nights, not thinking about my body or exercise for three years. I was having the best time as I was at uni, and I was living with my friends. I was 83kg at my heaviest, which is around 13 stone."
After moving home from university, Garret enlisted the help of a personal trainer who she claims 'saved' her life.
"I reached out to a personal trainer and did it for the first year. She taught me so much. I learnt about nutrition and a good diet," she adds.
"I had tried every diet. I wouldn’t eat carbs and cut things out but now I eat more than ever and still lose fat. My PT saved me, I needed that year to learn and then eventually I stopped with her and have been doing it all by myself for the past 18 months."
Garret has lost a total of four stone, has gone from a size 16 to a size 8, and says she feels like 'such a different person'.
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"I'm doing lots of walking and weightlifting. The actual weight loss was from all of the walking and eating healthier and less," she explains. "I have three meals a day, but my secret is to eat what I want as long as it's nutritious and to keep walking and being active.
"I set myself a lot of goals, and I've achieved so much. I've run a half marathon, and I'm now training for another. I went from not being able to walk up a flight of stairs to now running half marathons. The old me would never dream of doing a half marathon. I always looked at my slim friends thinking I would never look like them - and now here I am."
Additional reporting by Caters.
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