Busy twin mum, 32, who shed staggering 10st after ‘humiliating’ incident shares her 3 weight loss secrets
A BUSY mum of twins has revealed how she managed to shed a staggering 10 stone in just eight months.
Amy Edwards, 32, dropped from to a size 28 to an eight after a humiliating moment at her friend’s wedding.
Finding no dress that fit her three months after giving birth, she had to wear two size 18 dresses sewn together to fit her frame.
Weighing 20 stone at her heaviest, Amy was able to drop 10 stone in less time than her pregnancy.
She said: “I just felt so disgusted with how I looked and just so shocked.
“I saw the pictures afterwards and I was like, I cannot believe I’m this big.
“I thought I still looked pregnant and I still do in some of those pictures.
“I look at my belly, it looks so round and it almost looks like I still have a baby in it.”
The 32-year-old from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK, explained that her weight had always been a struggle but she reached her highest dress size of 28 after she gave birth to her twins.
Three months after giving birth to them, her friend’s wedding was approaching where she was set to be a bridesmaid.
But she couldn’t find a dress that fit her, so she wore two size 18 dresses sewn together.
Amy told how she looked back at the wedding photos and was shocked at her appearance, which kick started her quest to shed weight.
Amy was able to drop a remarkable 10 dress sizes by weighing her food, slashing her portion sizes and doing just three days of cardio a week.
To start with, she programmed her Fitbit to create a 1000-calorie deficit each day and joined a ‘Couch to 5K’ running programme, which she stuck to religiously.
After those eight weeks, she continued at her own pace, slowly running further and further as she watched the pounds disappear.
Amy said she couldn’t believe how fast she was losing weight, and was so proud of herself for doing it all naturally.
She explained that her meals didn’t change in terms of content, but in size as she swapped out her double portions for sensible amounts of food that she weighed out.
On her low days, she remembered looking at the wedding photos and knew she had to push on.
Just eight months after starting her journey, she was able to fit into a size eight dress.
With a huge sigh of relief, the mum began a new plan to maintain her weight and has since been running marathons more regularly than ever.
Consistency is key
She said: “I felt absolutely humiliated in that purple dress and I just literally took the dress in the bin and just came home and was like, right, I’m doing this for my kids.
“I couldn’t believe how awful I looked.
“So then I started this, I ate 1000 calories under what I burned each day. I really stuck to it and was consistent in what I did.”
Amy didn’t restrict what she ate, consistently enjoying chocolate while shedding weight.
Amy's diet before and after her weight loss
Amy took drastic measures to achieve her staggering 10st weight loss, but she didn't deprive herself from enjoying her favourite sweet treat.
The mum started weighing her food and realised she was eating large portion sizes.
Rather than changing her diet, she halved the portions she was eating to achieve a calorie deficit – meaning she was burning more calories than she was consuming.
Amy still enjoys two chocolate bars every evening.
But she managed to reduce the amount of calories she was eating by weighing her food to work out healthier portion sizes.
“I have this big thing about how I ate two proper chocolate bars every evening throughout my whole weight loss journey, which actually some people were completely baffled by.
“When I was 10 stone heavier than I am now, what I ate was exactly the same. The difference is the portion sizes.
“I would eat, now I weigh everything and I really realised that a normal portion of dinner before now was at least double the portion size than what I have now.”
‘Doing it for my kids’
Amy recalled: “I had thought, I’ll be able to lose the weight before the wedding or lose enough to fit in this size 18 dress and then it got closer and closer and I knew there’s no way.
“There was a lady up here and she was amazing. She managed to literally reconstruct the dresses to put them together so that I could wear it still, but I did feel absolutely humiliated.”
The mum said that thinking about her kids had helped keep her going.
How to lose weight safely
Losing weight should be a long-term commitment to healthier living, rather than any drastic measures.
The NHS tips – which can be adopted slowly – include:
- Get active for 150 minutes a week – you can break this up into shorter sessions
- Aim to get your 5 A Day – 80g of fresh, canned or frozen fruit or vegetables count as 1 portion
- Aim to lose 1 to 2lbs, or 0.5 to 1kg, a week
- Read food labels – products with more green colour coding than amber and red are often a healthier option
- Swap sugary drinks for water – if you do not like the taste, add slices of lemon or lime for flavour
- Cut down on food that’s high in sugar and fat – start by swapping sugary cereal for wholegrain alternatives
- Share your weight loss plan with someone you trust – they can help motivate you when you have a bad day
Read about:
- The five fat loss foundations
- The calorie formula for weight loss
- The perfect portion sizes for meals to lose weight
- Sun Health’s 8-week weight loss kick start plan
“I think I get asked a lot about what my motivation is and for me, it’s always been my kids,” Amy said.
“And so if I don’t, if I ever have a day where I couldn’t be bothered to go for a run when I’m exhausted and I think I’ve only had two hours sleep, I’d be like, no, I’m doing it for them.
“Because I’ve always done it for them, it’s always made it so much easier for me to stick to it because I don’t want to let them down.”