‘Desert trek snap was straw that broke the camel’s back’
PHOTO SHOCK MADE ALICE LOSE 5 STONES
ALICE Fitzsimmons lost five stones after getting the hump over a horror holiday photo.
She was so shocked by a shot of herself riding a camel she vowed to get in shape.
Alice, who hit 17st at one stage, was in Tunisia with boyfriend Kyp on their first holiday together.
They took a camel ride into the desert and decided they wanted something to help them remember the moment.
Alice, 22, said: “As we trekked into the desert, I told Kyp I wanted to pick up the professional picture of the ride as a memento.
“I was looking for it at the stand and couldn’t see it. I told Kyp they mustn’t have taken one of us, but he was pointing to it.
“My mouth fell open – I hadn’t even recognised the huge fat blob on the camel wearing a ridiculous headdress.
“I burst into tears. I didn’t want to see the picture ever again but Kyp told me not to be silly and bought it.
“But I spent the rest of the holiday feeling more selfconscious than ever.”
Alice, inset with Kyp, was so upset she covered up for the remainder of their break.
When they got home she hid the photo. But last January, Alice found it and decided it was time to get in shape.
She ditched unhealthy foods and started a diet and exercise regime that took her down to a size ten.
Alice, from Surrey, said she started gaining weight after getting into a relationship with Kyp in May 2014.
The pair quickly settled into a routine of takeaways and cosy nights in. Before she knew it she had ballooned to a size 20. Alice ISOBEL DICKINSON said: “I knew I was putting on weight but I was so content with Kyp, so instead of confronting my big problem, I’d curl up in my size 20 pyjamas.
“When we booked our first holiday together to Tunisia, I packed lots of floaty sarongs and baggy t-shirts to cover up my bulges.
“I refused to bare my bikini body on the beach and kept my shorts and t-shirt on in the sea.”
But all that changed at the beginning of last year when she rediscovered the hated photo while she was decorating. Alice said: “Just seeing the camel pic gave me the hump all over again and it was the trigger that I needed to change.
“I joined a slimming group, ditched curries, and switched to homemade dishes packed with vegetables. “I shed a stone in the first week and after that continued to drop the pounds.” Within four months Alice had lost an incredible five stones and seven pounds.
In September the pair went on their second holiday together to Tenerife – and this time Alice couldn’t wait to show off her trim body.
She said: “I bought a ton of bikinis and loved flaunting my size-10 body on the beach.”
And the icing on the cake came when Kyp proposed on the last night of their break.
Alice added: “I can’t wait to walk up the aisle. That horror holiday snap might have given me the hump – but it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”