Woman drops seven dress sizes after ex told her she'd never lose weight
Watch: Woman drops seven dress sizes after being told she'd never lose weight
A woman has dropped an incredible seven dress sizes and proved her doubters wrong after being told she would never lose weight.
Helena Hara, 27, from The Wirral, Merseyside, was once told by an ex boyfriend that she would never be slim, but has since dropped from a size 20 to a slender size six after drastically overhauling her lifestyle.
Aged 21, and weighing 14 stone at her heaviest, Hara realised she needed to make a change for the better after getting into the habit of eating the wrong types of foods, and having takeaways up to four times a week.
While looking at an image of a woman's body on Instagram, Hara says her boyfriend at the time told her she would never achieve her health and fitness goals.
Read more: Most obese people who try to lose weight don't succeed: 'They need more support'
"I had just started taking my social media profiles seriously and had started to lose weight, but I felt like he didn't want me to lose any weight," the fitness influencer explains.
"I feel like when you are in a negative situation it makes you a negative person, and because I was unhappy, I turned to food and emotional eating."
Eventually, however, Hara decided to walk away from the relationship and turned her life around by taking on a whole new health and fitness regime.
"Now I go to the gym five to six times a week, I count calories and live a much more positive and healthy life," she says.
Hara says leaving her then partner helped her "get my life together in the way I needed to" and gave her confidence a boost.
"I did this for me, after being told I would never be thin, I made the gym a huge part of my life and changed my eating habits," she explains.
Read more: 10 expert-approved weight loss tips good for your body and mind
Hara says she previously struggled with her relationship with food, but has realised the best way for her to combat unhealthy eating habits is to allow herself to have everything in moderation, without having to restrict her favourite foods.
"I have always struggled with food relationships, I still use it as a comfort now, but I just control what I eat a lot better now and have it in moderation," she explains.
"I still eat chocolate pretty much every day.
"It is nothing like before, but I don't restrict myself. I just try and eat a lot cleaner.
"I allow myself 2300 calories a day, in line with building muscle whilst maintaining a slender physique.
"I just feel as if I have a new lease of life."
Read more: How to start working out: A beginner's guide to getting fit for the first time
Before her body transformation Hara says she would snack all the time.
"I would always have food nearby, whether it be chocolate, crisps, cakes, McDonald's," she explains
"I would have takeaway's all the time, I would get a Chinese or a pizza for dinner.
"Now, I am so much more active, doing a lot of weight training and building up my muscle.
"I have lost five stone, but I have a lot of muscle weight now."
The fitness influencer is now single and focusing on her healthy mindset, and hopes to help other women who are struggling with their bodies.
"I would love to help people who want to better their lives and lose weight," she adds.
"I want to help them with fitness and eating habits as I resonate a lot with that, it is close to my heart."
Read more: The NHS' 12-week weight loss plan explained
Hara's food diary
Diet Before:
Breakfast - A pastry of some sort and a chocolate yogurt / three slices of toast with honey and butter
Lunch - Pizza / crisps / chocolate
Dinner - Takeaway - Mcdonalds or Chinese
Snacks - chocolate / crisps
Diet Now:
Breakfast - Three weetabix with yogurt and fruit + protein breakfast of chicken sausages beans and mushrooms
Lunch - Chicken and rice with broccoli + protein shake and a banana
Dinner - Tortilla wrap with prawns and salmon
Snacks - Skinny dream bar / 90 cal fibre one chocolate fudge bar / corn thins with Nutella and peanut butter.
Additional reporting Caters.
