A Welsh mum who couldn't even run to the first lamppost on her street has spoken of how she lost five stone in just one year and completed a half marathon after transforming her life. Laura Morgan, 30, said she had a 'light bulb moment' to start her weight loss journey after she noticed she had begun to put on weight during lockdown.
After struggling with her weight for years, Laura said it took lockdown for her to finally start becoming more active and healthier, not only for herself, but for her three-year-old daughter too. “For me personally, I have always been on the larger side. When I was over-weight, I wouldn’t say that I was fully “unhappy”, it was more that I was uncomfortable in my clothing and didn’t feel confident in my appearance, which was more of the mental affect that it had," she said.
"I wouldn’t enjoy going out as much as I felt uncomfortable in my own skin, and I knew if there was a social event, I’d go but wouldn’t enjoy it as much in my mind because of low self-esteem and being worried people would notice how much weight I had gained. I finally told myself, 'Right, if I don’t change my ways or do something now then I will be like this forever! I have no excuses.'" You can get more diet and weight loss news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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The lead worker for child and family services from Llanelli said she had low self-esteem and a "terrible" relationship with food. "I had no idea on the number of calories I was consuming daily, all I know was that it was a lot, hence my weight gain," she said.
Laura added that she wanted to use the time she had in lockdown to become more active, saying: "When the second lockdown came along in 2020 I knew I had put weight on and I thought to myself, I need to use this time to start becoming more active, and I need to be the best version of me for my three-year-old daughter."
As part of her new active lifestyle, Laura took up running, despite describing herself as "no runner" prior to this. She said: "I simply started running from my doorstep. Bear in mind, I was no runner and could barely run to the first lamppost without stopping or losing my breath, but I stuck to it. This is when I noticed that the more I stuck to it and forced myself out my front door, the longer I was able to run for. I started setting myself running goals and when I completed my first 5k without stopping I cried and the rest is history." Read here about 12 easy ways to shed those pounds and keep them off.
Laura was able to complete her first half marathon last year, something which she said, apart from giving birth to her daughter, was her "proudest achievement to date." She said: "Never in my life did I ever think I’d be able to do one considering I couldn’t run to the first lamppost on my street.
"Since I started running, I haven’t stopped, when people say, 'You’ve caught the running bug,' you really do. It's part of my life now and it’s a great way to keep fit and great for the mind. I will run at least 10-15k a week to help stay on top of my fitness."
As well as taking up running, Laura said a "game-changer" in her weight loss journey was "becoming knowledgeable about calories and calorie deficit. "With my weight loss, I didn’t ever restrict what I ate but the amount I ate and still eat," she said. "I now know I was overweight because I was not knowledgeable around calories and being in a calorie deficit. By doing my research it opened me up to finding lower calorie alternatives such as Skinny Food Co’s products, which helped massively on my journey. This is the one type of food you should eat more of to help you lose weight.
"I believe there is no such thing as having to stick to a miserable diet to lose weight and that you shouldn’t feel restricted. For example, I still love toast, crumpets and toasted bagels but a smaller quantity with a healthier topping keeps me just as satisfied as before."
She added that "making small, incremental changes really encouraged [her] throughout [her] journey." She said: "Discovering The Skinny Food Co helped me to cut down on my calorie and sugar intake while still enjoying my favourite foods – just at a smaller quantity and with low-sugar and low-calorie condiments or syrups on top. I can still get my sweet fix, just in a healthier way. Again, by setting lots of small and achievable running goals, this really helped me build up my confidence and motivation."
Laura said another "massive motivation" for her was seeing her friend and personal trainer, Nuke Fitness's transformation posts on social media. "He was running a 14-week programme to help lose weight, become fitter and lead a healthy positive lifestyle, so before I knew it I signed up and committed myself, and Luke taught me all about calorie counting and the importance of exercise."
Laura sent Luke, her trainer, weekly progression photos, which she said was a "big motivator" for her. "Prior to this I hadn’t jumped on a scale for years, as I was too afraid to. Safe to say, I am no longer sacred and if anything I got a little too obsessive and excited to weigh," she said.
After the 14 weeks were up, Luke and Laura posted her transformation and weight loss on their social media profiles and, from there, she said she had continued her lifestyle. Laura added that she had "managed to inspire many others" via her Instagram page.
