‘Weight loss finally clicked for me!’
After a dream holiday left Saskia Baines, 22, feeling uncomfortable, she knew she had to change her bad eating habits
Lounging in a bikini with the sun beating down on me and a cocktail in hand, I should have been in my element. It was October 2019, and I was on an all-inclusive two-week holiday to Cape Verde with my boyfriend Sam. But instead of enjoying myself, I felt self-conscious and uncomfortable in my size-16 swimwear. I know 16 isn’t huge, but I was very young, and everyone my age seemed to be a couple of stone lighter than me.
It was when I met Sam on Tinder in 2017 that I started struggling with my weight. Sam and I had a lot in common, including a shared love of food. We loved going out for a meal or staying in to watch a film and ordering a takeaway. When we moved in together after just a few months, I’d make us a full English fry-up, before grabbing a sandwich and crisps for lunch, and a macaroni cheese ready meal or chicken nuggets and chips for dinner. I would snack on chocolate and crisps throughout the day, too.
Within the first six months of living together, I was aware that my clothes were getting tighter, but I refused to weigh myself. And I’d get out of breath taking the washing upstairs or walking the short distance to the bus stop. “You’re 19, it’s ridiculous how unfit you are,”
I thought to myself. I’d try various diets, but would fall off the wagon after just a few days.
However, it was the Cape Verde holiday that was the push I needed to start looking after myself again. Despite having heard it all before, Sam was really supportive. So, in January 2020, I downloaded the WW (Weight Watchers Reimagined) app after hearing good things about the plan.
I had never tried to follow a structured health and fitness plan before, I’d mainly just tried cutting out carbs, which left me craving sugar and chocolate. I weighed 13st 3lbs, which meant at 5ft 7in, I fell into the overweight category. I knew I needed to lose at least 2st to be a healthy BMI.
The app was brilliant and became my power tool. If I was unsure about what to eat, or what the healthiest choice would be, I looked up the product on the app and the support was there. Each week when I input my weight, I completed a wellness check, which asked how I was feeling or if I was sleeping well.
‘It was the push I needed’
It felt like I was talking to a friend. Gradually the weight started to come off, and I found weighing in kept me accountable each week. Within the first month, I had lost a stone and started looking for ways to get fitter. Instead of driving to work at the hospital where I worked as a medical secretary or getting a lift from Sam, I’d challenge myself to walk the 30-minute distance three times a week.
And when my sister Olivia
became an instructor for Bounce Fit Body, a class that combines exercise with trampolines, I went along to try it out. I found I loved the class so much that I even bought myself a mini trampoline to exercise on at home in Torbay, Devon. When lockdown hit last March, I had already lost a stoneand-a-half, and I knew that while I could turn to food for comfort, I’d risk throwing away all the progress I had made.
It was a scary time, especially as I worked in a hospital, but I managed to keep my diet on track. Not being allowed to socialise and see friends made sticking to my diet easier because there was no temptation. For breakfast, I would eat overnight oats or an omelette, then for lunch, I’d have homemade soup or leftovers from dinner from the previous night. When I got home, I would make pasta with a healthy sauce, and if I wanted to snack, I’d eat fruit or baked crisps.
By June, I had lost 2st 8lbs and had reached my goal weight of 10st 7lbs. I could also wear size 10 clothes. I felt happy and confident in myself. I stopped being so focused on the scales, and instead of weighing in weekly, I chose to weigh in monthly. I enjoyed the flexibility that the plan allowed me, and I developed a newfound love of exercise and cooking from scratch. Preparing meals became a way to relax after a long or stressful day.
And when the restrictions were briefly lifted and I managed to see friends and family last summer, everyone complimented my new, slimmer figure and told me how much happier I looked. Now, I’m really looking forward to the next holiday I go on when lockdown is lifted because, this time, I will feel happy and confident in a bikini!
‘I felt happy and confident’
● To start your weight-loss and wellness journey, please visit Ww.com