A 34-year-old woman has transformed her life by losing more than 6st, is now running a half marathon to raise money for charity.
A life without exercise and an unhealthy relationship with food for most of her adulthood caused Nicola Buckley, Victoria Road, Romford, to struggle with weight.
But it wasn’t until she saw some pictures of herself on Facebook that she realised something had to be done.
“I just couldn’t believe it was me,” she said.
“My job involved sitting down all the time, had unsociable hours and the weight just piled on.
“I always avoided doing any exercise. Even to the point that I would catch two buses to work instead of one and walking.”
By July 2015, Nicola’s weight crept up to 16st 3lbs.
“I challenged myself to walk everywhere and I’ve never looked back,” she continued.
“I would set myself step challenges and challenge myself to see how many floors I could climb in a day, eventually the next step was to learn to run.
“I started running in August last year, from one lamppost to the next, then walking, then running again.
“When I first started I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. It was so hard. Gradually it got easier.”
Nicola’s efforts led her to lose 15lbs, but felt without support she would slip back to her old ways and so turned to begun attending Weight Watchers.
She kept up her exercise regime, healthy eating and slimmed down to 9st 12lbs.
“My life is incredibly different now,” she continued.
“I’m fitter, I have so much more energy and I’m so much happier. Losing this weight has meant huge lifestyle changes for me but they are changes that I can live with day in and day out.
“Until I started learning about food and healthy choices and how important exercise is, I never really thought my diet was that bad.
“Now I still enjoy foods I used to eat, but I have them in moderation or with tweaked recipes.
“I never go without and I would encourage anyone thinking about exercise or a healthier lifestyle to just go out and do it.
“If you put 100pc into it most of the time, your life will change immeasurably.”
In October, Nicola will be running in the Royal Parks Half Marathon for Prostate Cancer UK.
To help her raise vital cash, click here, or to take part visit royalparkshalf.com/Enter/
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