I’d dropped four stones since the last time my husband had seen me!
AFTER becoming trapped in a cycle of unhealthy lifestyle habits, Jade Simmonds could no longer look at herself in the mirror.
The 42-year-old turned her bedroom mirror to face the wall to avoid catching a glimpse of her 17 stone figure.
And behind her ‘outgoing personality,’ her rollercoaster relationship with her fluctuating weight was causing her to become a shell of herself.
The mum-of-three, from Hazelrigg, said: “Nothing fit me – even my comfort clothes were too tight. But to add insult to injury, it got to the point where I couldn’t fasten the buckle on a pair of my favourite shoes!”
Jade said she had found herself “living a life of complacency and convenience, oblivious to the consequences” as she moved around the country with her former army family.
And after falling out of love with her own job in social housing she found herself binging on Chinese takeaways of chicken balls and chips, or Indian takeaways with naan bread and poppadoms. But soon after the country went into lockdown amid the Covid pandemic, Jade decided to seize the moment and change her life for the better.
She had walked away from a job she hated, and now it was time for her to tackle her insecurities about her weight.
Jade signed up to Team RH’S Life Plan and set her sights on dropping three dress sizes.
“I hung a size 16 dress above my scales in the bathroom for motivation.
“I was determined to get back into it – I quite literally had my eyes on the prize.”, Jade said.
“It was a work dress that made me feel professional and confident and I wanted to feel that way again when looking for another job and going for interviews.”, she added.
Six months into her weight loss journey, Jade received a huge reminder of how far she had come when her husband, who had been working away since she started her journey, returned home.
Jade said: “I remember my husband stepping foot in the house after working away for a while – I’d dropped four stone since the last time he’d seen me in person and his reaction was absolutely amazing; he was speechless.
“That proved to me how far I’ve come.”
Now, after 18 months of stepcounting and eating 2,600 calories per day, Jade has exceeded her original target, slimming from a size 20 to a size 10.
Her incredible determination has inspired her to lose a whopping 103lbs and she has also managed to overcome a previously diagnosed food phobia by learning about the value of nutrition and the effects it has on her body.
Jade, who now works for Northumbrian Water Group, said: “Being on Team RH’S plan, which properly taught me about food and provided access to a no-foods-barred recipe database, is what really changed my mindset towards my eating habits after all those years.”
Today, Jade admits that she lives a happier and healthier life with her children and husband.
She said: “One of the best things to come out of this has been the ability to genuinely laugh and smile again actually feeling true happiness from the inside out, without worrying if my belly is shaking or not.
“As a family, we make conscious choices to live sustainably.
“We’re always adventuring together which is a sharp contrast to the life we led when I was overweight.”