A mum who lost six stone in a year says she keeps being asked about her "secret".
When Carla Fishwick approached her 40th birthday she knew she wanted to shape up and lose weight but always felt "too lazy" to do anything about it. As reported by the Manchester Evening News, she had tried "millions of diets" over the years but never found anything she could stick to with a busy life running her own hairdressing business and being a mum-of-one.
As she scrolled through Instagram she was struck by the transformations on the page of an online coach - and so she decided to give it a try for herself. Carla signed up for an initial six weeks on the Francis Diet which gave her access to a personalised calorie and nutrient-controlled diet.
She was also given a tailored fitness plan with workouts devised by trainer Scott Francis that she could do at home. She had already dropped a stone within three weeks of starting in February 2022 - and she says that made her realise exactly what she could achieve if she put her mind to it.
Learning to make a complete "lifestyle change" while sticking to her plan, she has gone on to drop an incredible six stone and 9lbs in a year. Carla, from Wilmslow, near Manchester, has slimmed from a size 16 to a petite size 6/8 and now regularly shares her own transformation pictures on her Instagram page.
Carla, who is now 41, hopes that by sharing her own journey she can inspire others, like her, who have felt they can't lose weight. She has shared photos in her bikinis at each step of the way to show how she gradually slimmed from 14stone 8lb at her heaviest, down to her weight now of 7stone 13lb.
Carla said: "I was always so lazy, I was the sort of person I’d sleep in to the last alarm, I always wanted to lose weight but I just wasn’t prepared to do it.
"Now I get up every morning at 5am to do a workout, because I know that will set me up for the day. This has changed my whole life for the better and it's not just about weight loss, it's been the mental health side as well.
"I get messages from people asking for me for help, and I feel like if there's anything I can do to help people out, I want to try. People think there's a magic pill or secret, but there's nothing secret to it - it's all down to hard work and motivation. Once you get to where you want to be there's no going back."
Carla, who runs her own hairdressing business, says her transformation has been so impressive that some people have questioned whether she's actually had surgery to achieve it.
She said: "I’ve had plenty of discussions with people online, some have had a go at me, saying I must have had weight loss surgery or lipo - but I’ve done this all the hard way. I've tried every diet going over the years and this is the only thing that has worked for me which is why I'm so passionate about it.
"I've still got a bit of loose skin around my belly but I think when you’ve had kids you always have that pouch. And I’ve still got my stretch marks, but my daughter says "mummy I gave you these stretch marks," so I’m happy to keep them."
Carla, who is 5' 5", has been so inspired by the Francis Diet, that she now also works as an ambassador for the programme sharing her story. She paid a set fee for her initial starter programme for six weeks - with prices tailored for individual packages and how long you book for.
The meal plans are all tailored to what you like to eat - and are all ingredients you can pick up from the supermarket, which you then prepare yourself at home. She said: "I spend about £40 a week now buying my food for the week that is in the plan, and I make sure I prep everything so I know exactly what I'm eating each day.
"My aim with this when I first started, it wasn’t to get to a certain weight, I just wanted to get to a size 12. But I just found it so easy that the weight dropped off and I was stunned when I got down to a size 8, and often size 6s are fitting as well now which I never thought was even possible.
"The slimmest I'd ever been in my adult life before this plan was a size 10. When I started to notice the shape of my body changing, and the muscle definition I was achieving, it made me work even harder."
Carla now enjoys going to the gym in stylish fitness gear - but she admits at the start she felt ashamed even walking into her local gym when a trainer said she was using the equipment incorrectly - and so she chose to do her workouts at home instead.
As part of the plan, Carla has ditched alcohol and she says that she can now see how, before the diet, having a drink would lead on to binge eating takeaways at home with her husband Anthony.
One of the exciting things for Carla about losing weight, she says, has been being able to walk into a shop and buy whatever outfit she wants knowing it will fit.
She said: "Whenever I want something now I can just pick something up in my size and try it on at home and know it will fit. It’s nice not having to worry all the time about having bigger clothes if I put weight on.
"When I used to go on holiday I would take 'bigger' clothes for the end of the holiday knowing I'd just pile the weight on while I was there, but now I just continue on plan while on holiday because I finally feel in control. I even lost weight on the last holiday I went on."
Carla says losing weight has also had a big impact for her health. Before starting the Francis Diet she was peri-menopausal and had been recommended to take HRT and anti-depressants, but says she's now off both medications as she no longer feels she needs them.
She says the lifestyle change has done wonders for every aspect of her life, saying: "I feel more organised in my whole life. Being ready for the school run, being ready for work, I'm all organised. Because I get up so early I just get everything done, I feel like doing your exercise at 5am gives you endorphins and the energy to get the rest of the day done."
Carla's typical daily food before and after
DIET BEFORE
Breakfast
Big caramel latte from the coffee shop
Lunch
Healthy lunch at work
Dinner/evening
Snacks - crisps, daughter’s leftovers, picking at husband’s foods, drinks with husband then takeaway
DIET NOW
Breakfast
Scrambled egg with piece of bacon
Lunch
Chicken salad
Dinner
Chicken sausages with spinach and vegetables or home-made bolognese
Snacks
Nuts
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
