The hairdresser who dropped 8 stones shared her top weight loss tips for the New Year, including skipping Christmas chocolates and taking ‘before’ photos to track your progress.
Sinead McCarthy, 31, was number 20 on the scale, but dropped to number 12 after following a diet plan of 1,700 calories a day and 10,000 steps.
Sinead believes anyone looking to lose weight in January should ditch the temptation and step more while watching TV.
She said that losing weight is all about lifestyle changes, and that “easy fixes and crazy diets” don’t work.
Sinead, from Burhead, East Renfrewshire, said:
“If you’re making New Year’s resolutions, don’t think too far ahead and wish you were a certain size or weight. Take them one day at a time.”
“If you think too far ahead, you may start to feel like you can’t stick to change, but try taking one day off and then the next.
“Time will pass anyway, but if you follow all those little checklists of steps, calories, and weight-based training, you’ll lose weight.
“At home, remove anything that might tempt you.
“All the chocolate lying around after Christmas, especially if you don’t have a lot of willpower, make sure it’s all gone before you start.
“I always say the best way to start losing weight is to take pictures in your underwear.
“It might be really hard at the time, but in the long run you’ll appreciate it.
“When you feel like you’ve lost nothing, you can look back at your photos and see how far you’ve come.
“Hang up some clothes you want to wear as inspiration.”
(Katie Lee Arrowsmith SWNS)
(Katie Lee Arrowsmith SWNS)
Sinead, who is self-employed, said supplementing her daily diet with spinach can help her lose weight, and she eats eggs, canned fish, and soup as snacks.
She put spinach in smoothies, spag balls, and scrambled eggs.
she said:
“I put spinach in everything I eat. It bulks up your diet and is very good for you.
“You can eat a lot of it because it wilts a lot when you boil it.
“Above all else, choose protein as a base and build your meals out of it.
“I snack on tuna or canned eggs because they fill me up more than biscuits.”
(Katie Lee Arrowsmith SWNS)
And she said walking 10,000 steps a day in front of the TV helps her keep her weight on when she struggles to stay motivated to go out in the cold.
Sinead said:
“Get outside. You don’t need a gym to step in. Nature and being outside are the most underutilized therapies for anyone.
“Or just march while watching TV.
“When it’s freezing outside, it’s hard to get the motivation to go out and do the steps, so stick something on the TV and complete the steps inside the house.
“It’s all about keeping moving.”
