I lost 8st drinking green tea
Samantha Rees claims drink took her from 17st to 9st in a year
UNLIKE many dieters, Samantha Rees does not start her day with a vigorous workout.
Instead, she puts her incredible eight-stone weight loss down to a nice cup of tea.
Samantha, who weighed 17st 5lb and a wore a dress size 24, says she almost halved her size in just over a year by drinking nine cups of green tea a day.
The claims assessor, who is now a svelte size ten and weighs 9st 4lb, swears by the hot drink alongside her healthy diet and says it is the secret of her success.
Samantha, 30, says: “When I was overweight, I was addicted to milky tea with sugar.
“I used to drink at least five cups a day and would always dunk a couple of biscuits in there too. At that time, I never dreamed of drinking anything else.
“When I decided I needed to lose weight, my friends suggested herbal tea and everyone kept saying how green tea is supposed to boost the metabolism and stave off hunger.
“I’ll admit I didn’t believe it, but I was so desperate to lose weight gave it a go.”
And the single mum to Caitlin, 14, and Jamie, ten, was surprised when the pounds soon started to drop.
Samantha, from Salford, Greater Manchester, says: “I started drinking four cups of green tea a day and within a month I noticed a massive difference. I’d lost a stone and felt absolutely amazing.
“I upped the amount of green tea I was drinking over the next few months until I was drinking nine cups a day and couldn’t believe how much difference it made — I lost a total of eight stone.
“Some people eat five portions of fruit and veg a day — I consume green tea.”
Samantha’s story might sound too good to be true, but a recent study suggests green tea could be the secret to smaller waistlines.
Scientists from Poznan University, Poland, found an extract in green tea reduces the amount of starch we absorb from food during meals, helping us keep off the pounds.
Samantha says: “After becoming a mum in my teens, my body wasn’t like other girls my age.
“I was a size 18 and I hated my shape. Feeling miserable about the way I looked made me want to eat more, so I did.”
At 19 she learned she was pregnant for a second time and this only made her weight problems worse.
She says: “I was eating for two and didn’t have any time to think about healthy meals.
“I’d get through the day by drinking sugary, milky cups of tea, an entire pack of biscuits easily.
“When the kids were little, I’d often just eat whatever they were having, such as sausages and chips, then a snack when they slept.”
In a standard day, Samantha would scoff two slices of toast with butter for breakfast followed by a Mars bar mid-morning.
She would eat two cheese sandwiches with a packet of crisps and a Twix chocolate bar at lunchtime, followed by children’s leftovers and a pizza for dinner.
She says: “It became my routine for so long I stopped questioning whether I could be healthier. I looked for quick-fix solutions, such as diet pills or fad diets. I lost a few pounds here and there, but nothing dramatic, and always went back to my old habits.”
It was in April 2014 that Samantha got the wake-up call she needed to change her lifestyle.
She says: “I’d been avoiding the scales for years, but my clothes were becoming so tight I knew I needed to see how big I’d become — I had ballooned to 17st 5lb.
“I was so shocked I did a double-take at the scales. I googled my BMI and it told me I was 46.3 and morbidly obese. I was mortified.”
Horrified by the findings — a healthy BMI for an adult is between 18.5 to 25 — the mum, who now has a BMI of 24.8, vowed to change her lifestyle.
She says: “I looked at my diet and realised just how much I was eating — and drinking.
“I stopped eating a Mars bar for breakfast. Instead I ate porridge, chicken with vegetables for lunch and lasagne for dinner. I also started going for a walk in my lunch hour.”
Her new diet — and exercise — helped her start to lose the excess weight, but Samantha couldn’t give up her sugary teas.
Though Samantha dropped one and a half stone in the first four months, by August she was frustrated she wasn’t seeing faster results.
It was then that she was introduced to an alternative. She says: “I was moaning to a friend about my slow progress and she suggested swapping breakfast tea for green tea.
“At first I laughed it off — I thought it was a fad, plus I hated the taste.”
But as another month passed and Samantha only lost another three pounds, she decided it was time to give green tea a go.
She says: “At that point I was desperate to try anything.
“I bought an extra-large pack of green tea teabags and just forced my first cup down.
“I didn’t enjoy it but it wasn’t as bad as I remembered, so I had another.”
By the end of the week Samantha had replaced her five-a-day milky teas with the green variety.
She says: “I noticed I felt way more energetic at work and didn’t feel as hungry in between meals, which stopped me snacking.”
To her delight Samantha lost a stone in one month. She says: “I was amazed. My metabolism sped up and I was snacking less.”
Samantha upped her green tea intake again.
She says: “I’d start the day with a green tea then put the kettle on for another when I arrived at the office at 9am. I’d have one every hour, on the hour through my working day, before a last cup in front of the telly in the evening.”
Samantha admits her colleagues were quick to notice her new obsession and asked if she should be drinking that amount of tea.
She says: “I researched the recommended daily intake for green tea and found that as long as I had no more than nine cups a day, I was doing my body no harm.”
Last month — having drunk more than 2,000 cups of green teas since September — Samantha hit her target weight of 9st 5lb. She says: “I rewarded myself with a pair of size-ten jeans. I look better now than I ever did in my twenties.
“When people ask how I lost weight, I love telling them my secret — green tea has changed my life.”
Additional Reporting: AMY SHARPE
Diet then
BREAKFAST:Two slices of toast with butter, Mars bar
LUNCH: Two cheese sandwiches with a packet of crisps and a Twix
DINNER: Pizza
SNACKS: Packet of biscuits and five cups of sugary tea
Diet now
BREAKFAST: Green tea and bowl of porridge
LUNCH: Chicken with vegetables
DINNER: Lasagne
SNACKS: Cup of green tea every hour at work, followed by a final cup at 8pm
Support is key
SUN fitness expert Nicki Waterman says: “Samantha has shown when you take responsibility for your own lifestyle choices, things can change for the better.
“The fact that she found the energy to walk in her lunch hour was the first step to getting her body mobile and active without having to exert too much energy.
“Every single bit of daily activity is a chance to burn extra calories. It all adds up and keeps you strong, slim and healthy.
“Samantha has also proved that once you’ve set a goal, it’s important to tell all your friends and family about it. Their support will have kept her on track.”
Health boost
SUN nutritionist Amanda Ursell says: “What Samantha has achieved is amazing for her self-esteem and long-term health.
“It will also benefit her children, as there is no doubt they model their own eating behaviour on their parent.
“Samantha lost the weight because she completely changed her eating habits and slashed her total calorie intake.
“While there is no recommendation of how many drinks containing caffeine we should have, nine is a big intake.
“If green tea has helped to keep her on track this is great, but I would recommend no more than six cups a day.”