Holly Celebrates a Lighter Life

South Ealing woman loses six stones

A back injury whilst cycling to work led to a woman from South Ealing taking action over her weight and losing nearly six stone.

At her heaviest Holly Taylor, 26, weighed nearly sixteen stone - she now weighs ten stone.

The human resources officer who lives on South Ealing Road, gained weight when she lived in Canada and was enjoying a busy social life.

She says: '' Weekends would be filled with tasty dinners followed by drinks with friends.  When the time came to move back to London the upheaval of moving back didn’t help my unhealthy eating habits. It was then that I knew I needed to put the focus back on my body.''

Being size 18 and a petite 5’3 Holly was obese and at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It wasn’t until she decided to start cycling her 10km journey to work and injured her back that she realised how her weight was affecting her life.  

“My body wouldn’t let me carry on. I was devastated that I had allowed myself to get to a size that was damaging for my health, I was only 25 how was this happening to me?”

Holly signed up to a diet package called LighterLife where conventional food is replaced by meals, bars, shakes, soups and porridges. She also attended weekly group sessions, which helped her change her mindset towards food.

Holy is now keen to encourage others who think they can't lose weight that they really can.

She says: ' ANY diet WILL work if you stick to it, everything about doing a diet is in your head, it's about mentally not giving in to your emotions and your physical cravings. The LighterLife counselling sessions were amazing, and gave me the support to really understand why you overeat and comfort eat.

''I had to find alternative things to do on my weekends and evenings that didn't consist of food or alcohol; I would go exploring around London visiting art galleries, going to the cinema and shows. I would still go out with my friends but I would only have sparkling water. Ultimately, it's about changing your lifestyle and not going back into bad habits.''

She adds: '' Since the weight has come off I find it much easier to exercise and it really has become so enjoyable to work out. I took a trip to Dubai in February and I was so excited to wear a bikini - I hadn’t worn one since I was 17 and I felt incredible!''

11th May 2016