My mummy tummy has gone and my skin glows
AnnA powell, 46, lives with her husband, thomas, 46, in Chudleigh, Devon. the couple, who have two children — thomas, 13, and Jackson, seven — run the Sugar Mill, a sweet shop in the town. She says:
Until this year, i’ve never thought seriously about dieting despite knowing that i have a ‘mummy tummy’. it was when friends were struggling to lose weight due to the menopause that i decided to take action. i feared if that happened to me, i would never lose the extra pounds that arrived over the past decade.
My weight was pretty constant in my 20s. i was a backing dancer and always around 9½st. My legs were my pride and joy. But in my late 30s and 40s, the demands of young children meant exercise went out of the window and i got out of the habit of keeping fit.
Running a traditional sweet shop with my husband made it extra hard to keep my weight down. the temptation is constant when you spend the day in a room packed with pick and mix and favourites such as cola cubes as well as handmade Belgian chocolates.
Six months of lockdown made the situation even worse. it was so easy to have a glass of beer every afternoon if the weather was sunny, along with lots of nibbles. i could feel the weight mounting up, leaving me
sluggish and tired in the second half of the day and even more dependent on sweet treats for an energy burst.
Sticking to 800 calories a day was daunting. i’m a very traditional cook — we usually live on dishes such as sausage and mash, meat and two veg and a roast on a Sunday.
So i had to rethink the weekly shop to convert to a Mediterraneanstyle diet. Even having fresh salad all the time was something i would never usually do. After about four weeks, i did crave the occasional fix of carbohydrate.
But i was amazed at how much energy i had and i’m thrilled with the results: i have lost 3in from my waist and my stomach is really toned.
Recently, i saw my motherin– law for the first time in months and she said: ‘You look so much brighter — your skin is glowing and your eyes are so bright.’ Does healthy eating really do that to a person? the answer is yes. When i look in the mirror now i think, ‘Wow’ and my aim is to press on until i weigh 10st.
the Fast 800 is only suitable for those who are overweight or obese. If you have any health concerns or you are taking medication, speak to your Gp before embarking on the plan.