Even for the most disciplined and well-meaning of people, losing weight is super hard. Not only do you have to spend consistent time in the gym making sure you're getting plenty of exercise, but you also have to diet effectively to ensure that not all of your hard work is going to waste.
Now usually, if I'm trying to lose weight, that means plenty of water, cutting down on sugary foods, and getting quite comfortable with the idea of greens with all of my meals. What it doesn't mean, usually, is eating a ton of bacon and fried cheese, unless I'm planning to lose weight by losing a leg from diabetes.
Try telling that, though, to Alexa Fears - who managed to drop from 322 pounds to a size 12, simply by sticking to a high-fat, low-carb diet. Otherwise known as the ketogenic diet. Revealing her new look on Instagram, Alexa opened up about her weight, and talked through her journey to her new body.
“I rarely used to weigh myself, but I must’ve been around 23 stone. I had to get my clothes from specialist shops,” Alexa, who hails from Northampton, revealed. She'd been insecure about her weight for as long as she could remember; bullied at school aged just seven, she turned to food as a sort of solace.
“I’ve spent so much of my life with weight being an issue that it’s been a lot to get used to," she explained. “I was just left out by the others, sitting on my own at lunchtime and in lessons." This continued into her 20s, when a stressful training course for her job led to her becoming "addicted to food".
"I never counted, but I must’ve been eating around 3,000 calories a day. I’d buy nice, healthy food, like salads or snacky bits from M&S, but I’d buy loads of them – three or four – and eat them all in one go. I could never keep food in the house. I’d always eat it then and there."
Alexa tried various diets. She counted calories, she tried to eat a low-fat diet, eating salads and sushi to no avail. She could never keep the weight off for long, and if she failed, she would binge eat until she was right back to square one. That is, until she heard about something called the ketogenic diet.
Combining bacon, cheese and plenty more with a dedicated exercise regime consisting of a 2.5km run and twice-a-week weight training, Alexa looks like a completely different person. “I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself or cutting much out,” she explains, and although she's now a size 12, she says she's not quite done yet.
"Confidence-wise, this has been amazing. Instagram has been a great help, and very supportive. Even though I’m not quite at my goal weight yet, I’ll get messages from people all over the world saying that I’ve inspired them."
Losing weight has brought Alexa a massive confidence boost, and she even got back into the dating game; and is now married! She'll be expecting her first child with the man only known as Chris in November, and whatever happens from here, Alexa can be super proud of her progress.
