A YOUNG woman from Tyrone has shared her best weight loss tips after shedding six stone.
After trying every fad diet and coming out unsuccessful, Catherine Devlin turned to seek new ways she could combat her weight.
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Catherine revealed how she had always struggled with her weight but after joining one fitness programme, her life was transformed.
Catherine said that there isn’t a diet she hadn’t tried over the years in hopes of losing weight and by 2019, she looked for another avenue.
In 2019, Catherine was at her heaviest weight of nearly 20 stone. She had recently broken off a relationship and her mental health had taken a hit.
Knowing she had to make a change, she joined a bootcamp-type fitness programme that lasted 12 weeks.
Initially apprehensive about it, that quickly changed when she lost two stone during this time.
After seeing how much change she could make, it only encouraged her to keep going as she discovered a new love for exercise.
Catherine told RSVP Live: “I didn’t have to aim to lose seven or eight pounds a week; aim for the first pound, and when you’ve lost the first pound, go for the second pound.
“I remember years ago I’d have thought, I have six stone to lose, I’m never going to do this. But focus on one pound, then go to the next pound.
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“You wouldn’t believe how quickly those pounds add up!”
Catherine didn’t go down the route of calorie counting when it came to her meals, rather she changed the size of her portions and reduced the amount of takeaways she was having.
The three major changes she made to her own lifestyle was simple,
Sticking to portion control, reducing her takeaway intake and consistently going to her exercise classes allowed her to change her own mindset about weight loss.
She added: “I can still tell you what I wore the first time I went into that exercise class.
“My heart sank because I was the biggest one in the class. But I didn’t realise, and I think a lot of people who are overweight too don’t realise, that everybody there is so supportive. I always thought they’re going to laugh at me, or they’re going to think this or that of me. It’s not that way at all.”
She encouraged anyone else feeling the same way she was to remember that “nine times out of ten” people going to those classes are “worrying about themselves” rather than concerned about you.
Catherine has kept her Instagram followers up to date in her weight loss journey and is encouraging others with their own lifestyles – even those who aren’t looking to shed any weight.
She wrote in a post last year: “Exercise, daily walks, classes and weights have changed my shape and helped me on my journey.
“Do not get hung up on scales aka the sad step…. it’s only a number
“Go by pictures, by measurements, by the way your clothes fit…. f*** it go by how you feel. You don’t need a number to tell you you’re amazing.”
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