Careese Squires, 43, lost 3½st and five metabolic years
I’ve always been a yo-yo dieter. In my 30s, I had my two kids and put on 4st with each pregnancy. I would do quick-fix diets, but the weight would always slowly creep back on. Aged 43, I was 16st and a size 18. I thought I was heading for diabetes and knew I had to do something. I tried the “Couch to 5K” running app, but I couldn’t manage it. It was my sister who turned everything around. She won a competition to join It’s So Simple’s August programme and gifted it to me.
Instead of just trying to eat less, I started focusing on increasing my protein and doing strengthbuilding exercises. The problem previously has been that I’ve craved what I can’t eat, but even though I’ve reduced my calories, I’m not denying myself any specific foods – and the protein fills me up. I have Fage yoghurt for breakfast with chocolate protein powder and I’ve made switches, so instead of white pasta I’ll have edamame pasta or lentil noodles.
I’ve done all my workouts via an app, so I haven’t had to join a gym. I started with just two and four kilo dumbbells doing mainly squats and lunges and bicep curls, but the exercises have slowly become harder and I’ve upped my weights as I’ve become stronger, so now I use 8.5kg dumbbells. I do four to five resistance workouts (about 30 mins each) a week and it took five months to lose the weight. It’s incredible to think that six months ago I would struggle to get up in the morning, I felt so achy. Now, I’m bouncing out of bed to do a workout before I take the kids to school. Looking good in a tight pair of trousers feels pretty great, too.