When it comes to weight loss, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Fitness levels, diet, height, age, genetics, muscle mass, hormones, health issues, and medication are all factors that influence body weight—including how easy or difficult it can be to shed pounds. But at their core, successful weight-loss stories are rooted in motivation and a willingness to change—just ask Jennifer Wallin, a 54-year-old woman from England. In an interview with Yahoo! Life, Wallin revealed the four simple changes that helped her shed 168 pounds.
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Wallin struggled with being overweight from a very young age. She recalled classmates cracking jokes at her expense and her weight being used as “fair game,” noting that she was “desperate for relationships and friendships.”
“You feel like you have to take it,” she explained. “I can’t think of a time in my life where I wasn’t bullied for [my weight.]”
This followed her into romantic relationships as well. Wallin said she was body shamed by a former boyfriend, who constantly called her “fat.” She was verbally abused in public, too, due to her size. In one instance, Wallin said she was spit on.
Wallin reached her heaviest weight of 398 pounds at 52 years old. During this stage of her life, Wallin said she was forced to shop for clothes online as most retailers didn’t carry her size (a size 28) in-store. A lack of energy also meant Wallin couldn’t enjoy activities that required stamina or lots of standing, such as concerts.
“By the time the band came on I'd be in agony standing waiting for them,” she shared.
On top of all that, her mental health was deteriorating from years of “being shouted at and ridiculed” because of her size. It was a turning point for Wallin, who decided 2023 would be the year she did something about her weight.
To help kick start her weight-loss journey, Wallin eliminated sweets, biscuits, cakes, fried foods, pies, and high-calorie drinks from her daily diet. However, Wallin still enjoys carbs in moderation. Her diet now typically consists of wholegrain toast with low-fat butter for breakfast, a tuna fish sandwich for lunch, and wholewheat pasta, salad, or fish with veggies for dinner. Her favorite snack is non-fat yogurt.
With her new and improved diet plan, Wallin also found calorie counting helpful. She used a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) calculator to track her meals and “maintenance calories,” which helped her figure out how many calories she should aim to burn or “lose” per day.
She also learned about “saving calories,” a diet method in which she consumed less calories than usual in preparation for an event with high-calorie food. "For example, I went for an afternoon tea for my daughter's birthday at the weekend so for a week before it I cut my calories down a bit more,” she explained.
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Making these key adjustments, in addition to getting regular exercise (cycling being her workout of choice), helped Wallin lose 168 pounds in 20 months.
"I started losing weight because I wanted to lose a couple of [pounds] to feel better but it came off quite easily, so I continued," she told the outlet. "Once I'd got it into my head that I wanted to lose weight the switching of the food came easy. The ultimate goal was in my head all the time.”
But for Wallin, the best part about this life-changing journey has been healing her mental health.
"My weight loss was always about my mental health," she stated. "Sticking two fingers up to everyone who had bullied me in the past. I can go out now without being shouted at and ridiculed. I just can't believe how long I put up with it.”
As for the future, Wallin said she plans to keep up with her weight-loss regimen for “another month and then see where I’m at.” Ultimately, she wants to master “maintenance tracking so I don't put the weight back on."
