THIS SNAP MADE ME LOSE FOUR STONE!
Jen Stubbs made her husband Matt take a photo to shame herself into losing weight…
Pulling on my size-18 bikini in the sticky Spanish sunshine, I really couldn’t have felt worse. I’d given birth just five months previously, in May 2014, and my baby belly had yet to go down. But, if I’m honest, it was more than that. I’d used my pregnancy as a chance to eat exactly what I’d wanted, and now I was bigger than I’d ever been.
When my husband, Matt, and I had decided to have an autumn getaway with our newborn, Evelyn, and our eldest daughter, Gracie, I’d been really excited by the idea of relaxing by a pool. However, now that we were here, I just felt bloated and unattractive.
‘Take a picture of me,’ I said impulsively to Matt, now 33, handing him my phone. When I looked at the picture, I shuddered to myself. I looked just as bad as I felt.
But this was going to be the end. The end of constant snacking, the end of watching the scales go up and up, and the end of feeling bad about my bulging body.
I’d always struggled with my weight, ever since I was a teenager at school. Not that I was fat then, but I always felt a little bigger than the other girls in my class. And university life didn’t help – three years of boozy nights out followed by greasy takeaways and fried breakfasts meant that I graduated in 2007 at 5ft 4in and a size 16.
I managed to slim down to a size 14, but that was all set to change again when I met Matt at a local pub in our home town of Southend-on- Sea, Essex, later that same year. Like a lot of couples, food was a huge part of our relationship. We loved going out for meals, and when we weren’t out, I’d make us huge plates of pasta with garlic bread, which was always followed by dessert.
When we had our first daughter, Gracie, now six, I managed to lose my baby weight quickly. Well, I had to – Matt had proposed just before she was born and we’d set a date for July 2012, just 18 months after I had her.
I started to eat more healthily and exercise four nights a week – and it worked. I floated down the aisle in a size 12 wedding dress, and felt amazing. I even managed to keep it up for our ‘mini-moon’ in Sardinia and our main honeymoon in Mexico.
However, as soon as we were back, any incentive to keep the weight off vanished and I slipped back into my old – bad – habits. I’d have biscuits for breakfast, a jacket potato or a sandwich with crisps for lunch, followed by cake in the afternoon and either rice or pasta for dinner. And of course, always something sweet for after.
Then I had Evelyn, and having two little ones to look after meant I turned to sugary snacks to keep my energy up. I’d snack on biscuits throughout the morning, then cake through the afternoon. And, at the same time, we were having our kitchen extended, which I used as an excuse to live on ready meals for three months.
It was no wonder that, by the time I actually went on holiday, I felt terrible.
So, in January 2015, I decided to take my weight seriously. Our kitchen was back to normal, Christmas was over – I had no more excuses. So I joined the
‘Far from shying away in the shade, I feel good about myself’
Cambridge Weight Plan. A Facebook friend had been posting pictures of herself after her weight loss with them, and she looked great.
I went online and found a local consultant. She arranged to come out to my house, and I was so grateful it was just the two of us when I weighed in at 14st 7lb. I was so mortified, I’d have hated other people to be in the room. Especially when she also took all of my measurements, so that I could see my body changing.
After talking about my goals, we decided I’d start on their Step Two, which combined their meal-replacement shakes and food with a healthy evening meal.
Being so used to huge portions, I was worried I’d be hungry, but it was the last thing I felt. Actually focusing on the food I was allowed meant that I enjoyed it more, and I was shocked at how little I actually needed to feel full.
Plus, the fact that I was recommended to drink more than two litres of water a day made me realise I’d probably been dehydrated, rather than hungry.
If I was ever tempted to cheat, I’d take out my phone and look at the picture Matt had taken of me on holiday, and that would spur me on.
In the first week I lost 9lb, and was absolutely over the moon. But that was only the start of it. Within six months, I’d lost 4st, four dress sizes and an impressive 27in.
Since then, I’ve been on another family holiday and away with the two girls, and far from shying away in the shade, I was able to wear a bikini and also feel good about myself.
I’ve even become a consultant for the Cambridge Weight Plan and love the fact that I can turn other people’s lives around, too. Because losing weight is far more than wearing smaller-size clothes. It’s about becoming your best you. l For more information, visit cambridgeweightplan.com