A Scottish nurse has completed her New Year's resolution by ditching takeaways and dropping SEVEN stone.
Rachael Bridgewater, 28, developed a takeaway habit partly due to her job as nurse causing her to weigh 17st 6lb at her heaviest.
Working 12 hour night shifts, she fell into bad habits relying on fast food and snacks to get through the day.
But determined to lose weight, Rachael set herself a New Year's resolution in 2020 and stuck to it.
She stopped eating four takeaways per week and is now 7st 6lbs lighter weighing 10 stone.
She said: "I used to grab anything I could and eat on the go whilst working such as biscuits, chocolate, and crisps.
"I had a bad relationship with food, I wouldn't have a full meal at all while I was working, I'd just be snacking, then I'd get home and binge eat because I was so hungry.
"There was probably thousands of calories in that meal which would be pizza and sides, kebab and chips, chicken curry with rice, chips and chicken balls."
Rachael began her weight loss on 1 January 2020, and lost seven stone over 16 months.
She said: "I weighed myself on the 31st December 2019, and I couldn't believe it when it said 17 stone.
"That was a full stone more than when I'd last weighed myself about a year before.
"That really made me think, what if next year I've put on another stone, and another and another.
"I was only 25, but I felt much older because I had all this joint pain and everything, which was just down to my weight."
Rachael spoke about her fears for her daughter, Isabella, six, before her weight loss.
She said: "I wanted to set a good example for her, and I wasn't doing that at the time.
"When you're a mum, and you're working full-time, you always make excuses and say you don't have time for things.
"But now, I'm using my slow cooker more, making sure I have three square meals, it is definitely possible."
Rachael's new year's resolution has been to lose weight for several years now, but this is the first time she's stuck to it.
She said: "I found calorie counting so much easier than a traditional diet with things you can and can't eat.
"Before, even if I was cooking something, I wouldn't think about weighing how much rice or cheese I was making or anything like that.
"Counting calories has made it much easier for me to know what my portion sizes should be.
"Now, we keep takeaways to the weekend, and I don't order the same things I used to, I'm sensible about it."
FOOD DIARY
Before:
Breakfast - three slices of thick white bread toasted with butter normally followed by a chocolate biscuit
Lunch meal deal sandwich with crisps and fizzy juice
Dinner - spaghetti Bolognese which would be a large portion of pasta with lots of cheese added and lots of garlic bread
Snacks - chocolate & crisps
Now:
Breakfast - porridge with fruit
Lunch - ham and cheese omelette with salad
Dinner - salmon, sweet potato and veg
Snacks - rice cakes, protein bars, protein shakes
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