Woman attributes 8st weight loss to visual progress diary: 'It kept me accountable'
A woman has revealed how keeping a visual diary of her weight loss progress contributed to helping her drop 8st (51kg) in just eight months.
Natalie Carter, 42, from Birmingham, says she has has struggled with her size since she was a child, consuming a lot of sugary and highly processed foods due to emotional eating, which she says eventually lead to her becoming a food addict.
At her heaviest, Carter's weight crept up to 20st (127kg), which started to have an extreme effect on her physical health.
Not only did she struggle to complete everyday activities such as getting up and down the stairs, but even light walking would cause her pain.
Deciding that something had to change, Carter decided to overhaul her food and eating habits and started on the 1:1 diet, also know as The Cambridge Diet.
Read more: Woman attributes 7st weight loss to Cambridge Diet: How does the popular plan work? (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)
Going from overeating to dramatically cutting what she ate right down; as the diet focused on meal replacement foods such as shakes, bars, soup, and yoghurts, Carter says she noticed her body quickly started to transform.
But it was keeping a visual diary that she also credits for helping keep her on track with her goals.
Throughout her weight loss journey, Carter kept a visual diary to document the progress that she was making. By taking pictures and videos, she was able to see how her body was changing which really helped her stay on top of her progression.
Speaking on why she chose to document her experiences visually and how it helped with her weight loss Cater says: "Taking progress videos and photos really helped to show me how far I had come. Sharing them online helped to push me further. I also felt that it kept me accountable."
As well as completely changing her diet, Cater also started going on short walks, which she says helped her maintain a positive mindset.
While she says the first few weeks were the hardest, as she experienced intense cravings for sugary foods, she managed to overcome the urge to slip back to her former diet.
Instead, she threw everything into her new lifestyle and now says it is the best thing she's ever done.
As well as losing an incredible 8st between November and July, Carter's body transformation has brought her a new career.
Read more: How weight affects life expectancy as study finds women who keep scales steady after 60 will live longer (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)
Having become so passionate about her new lifestyle the former bank worker decided to quit her job to become a weight loss consultant and help other women who also wanted to turn their lives around.
"I blogged my whole journey, so I built up a community through that," she explains. "I decided it was an opportunity that I could start helping people."
Crediting her body transformation with "changing her life" Carter says losing weight was the "best thing I've ever done"
"It's something I'll always have to keep a check on," she adds. "But I'll never go back to how I was before. I've really, really changed."
NHS recommended weight loss rate
The NHS recommends losing weight at a safe and sustainable rate of 0.5kg to 1kg (1lb to 2lbs) a week.
For most men, this will mean consuming no more than 1,900kcal a day, and for most women, 1,400kcal.
The health service has put together some suggestions for helping you lose weight safely including:
getting active for 150 minutes a week
aiming to get your 5 A Day
aiming to lose 1 to 2lbs, or 0.5 to 1kg, a week
reading food labels – products with more green colour coding than amber and red are often a healthier option
swapping sugary drinks for water
cutting down on food that's high in sugar and fat
sharing your weight loss plan with someone you trust to help keep you motivated
Additional reporting Caters.
