Roma Stapley was enjoying herself last Christmas. She ate a full three course meal, including tons of cheese and dessert wine.
While she was Christmas shopping, she admitted to eating “dozens” of mince pies.
“The way our family celebrated christmas, it always centered around eating and drinking, so I would gorge on food from the beginning of December to February and would pile on the pounds.”
She also ate countless takeout meals, which despite her best efforts, she always ate too much of.
“I did try and limit the amount of takeaways I would have—probably three a week—but I would always order way too much and get enough for four people when it was just myself and my boyfriend.”
It wasn’t until she saw pictures of herself at the dinner table at Christmas last year that she realized something had to change.
She joined her local weight loss club, and changed her giant portion sizes for healthier snacks.
Recalling her old eating habits, she says, “When we would order Chinese, I would order a few different dishes to try different things, but would always end up eating it all. If I hadn’t already eaten the packed lunch I’d made in the morning, I would have that at lunchtime, but mostly I’d have to go out to the shops to get something else instead.”
Now, she eats fruits and vegetables or lean proteins.
“It was really hard, as I had to completely relearn how to eat and what was a normal portion size,” said Roma. “I feel like I’m much more energetic now at work and I can actually go an entire shift without having loads of pain in my feet.”
Now, she’s down from 210 pounds to 145, and plans to lose a bit more before she’s done.
This Christmas, she’s going to be much more stringent. She’ll still have some sweets, but her parents have been instructed not to tempt her.
She’s now filled with a new confidence.
“I love that I can go clothes shopping for all kinds of outfits and I’m not just limited to large sizes,” she says. “I can wear what I like and I feel so much more comfortable in my skin and slinky dresses.”
