Size 26 junk food addict’s incredible 10st weight loss thanks to Healthy Mummy diet
A JUNK food addict who scoffed her way to a size 26, has shed a staggering 10 stone - after admitted her constant gorging was killing her marriage.
For years, Nicole Marnell put her love of ice cream and sugary treats before her husband and kids.
But in 2017, the 37-year-old, from Melbourne, Australia, got a brutal wake-up call.
"My family had taken a backseat to my main priority in life - food," she admitted.
"My marriage wasn't working, my children were being neglected, even my friends had to tell me some home truths - I'd let myself go."
Rather than take her kids swimming or to the park, Nicole would lie in bed all day watching movies.
After decades of letting her weight spiral, she tipped the scales at 23 stone.
It was then she realised she had to make changes, or risk losing everything.
"It got to the point where I either did something about it, or accepted that I had a one-way ticket to an early grave," Nicole said.
"I realised it wasn't just my life that I was neglecting, it was my children's lives too."
Growing up Nicole always struggled with her weight, and was on a permanent diet.
While her family enjoyed creamy mash with butter and cream, she would eat boiled new potatoes.
But, despite her restricted diet, Nicole's weight crept up and up during school.
It got to the point where I either did something about it, or accepted that I had a one-way ticket to an early grave
Nicole Marnell
"I don't remember a time when I wasn't bigger than everybody else," the mum-of-three said.
"Of course I was picked on, it came with being the biggest girl in school."
Rather than just comfort eating when she was sad, Nicole turned to school when she was happy, angry or stressed.
“I wish I’d just been a comfort eater, but it was so much worse than that,” she said. “I turned to food with any given emotion.
“If I was happy, I’d celebrate with a cheeky takeaway. If I was sad, anxious, frustrated – whatever the feeling – I’d always turn to food to help deal with it.”
When she became pregnant with her first child, daughter Tahli, 17, Nicole's weight spiralled once again - as she took eating for two to whole new levels.
“I saw getting pregnant as the ultimate get out of jail free card,” she said.
“I could finally eat and drink whatever I wanted without thinking of the consequences.”
Then, after splitting up with Tahli's dad in 2001, the single mum relied on cheap, convenient junk food to eat on the go.
Her self-confidence was at rock bottom, and food was her crutch.
Nicole believed she would never date again, but that changed in 2005 when she met her now husband, Lenard, 36.
The couple got engaged in 2008, and walked down the aisle in 2015, by which time they had two kids together.
But, two years later, Nicole reached her heaviest weighing 23 stone, and it was then she got her wake-up call.
After years of neglecting her body, she said "it finally caught up with me" - and she found herself, and her marriage at breaking point.
“I was sleeping all day, staying up late watching movies and eating chips and ice cream by the bucket load," she admitted.
It was then, Nicole realised she had to stop putting food first.
Desperate for help, a friend introduced her to the slimming programme - a meal and exercise plan that's designed for time poor, budget conscious mums.
Nicole tried the free month trial, and said she hasn't looked back.
After overhauling her diet, she now eats no more than 1,800 calories a day - less than the 2,000 recommended by the NHS for women.
She ditched the cheese-laden carb-filled meals with lashings of gravy, and the pounds began to fall off.
Instead of McDonalds for dinner, the family were enjoying home-cooked meals together.
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And in a matter of weeks, Nicole said she felt as though she had more energy than ever before.
In less than two years, she shed almost 10 stone, dropping from a size 26 and 23st to a size 14, weighing 13st 7lbs.
"I've never felt better," she said.
"If you'd told me two years ago that I'd have lost not far off half my body weight and signed up to run a half marathon, I never would've believed you.
“To anyone else out there who thinks they’re a lost cause, don’t give up hope, I’m living proof that anything is possible.
“Losing this weight isn’t just about looking good in the mirror, it’s saved me, my family and my marriage, which is better than it’s ever been.
“I never knew how to love myself before, now that I do, I can properly love the people that are important to me, too.”
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