A former Greggs addict who ditched her daily steak bake, sausage and bean melt, baguette and jam doughnut to shed stones saw the weight pile back on in lockdown. But Staceylee Richards hit the gym and has now lost six stone since last October.
She has also picked up her first bodybuilding title and uses her own experience as an example to the clients she counsels as a personal trainer. Staceylee, 38, who used to squeeze into a size 16, is now 9st 2lb and can shop in the children's department for her clothes.
She says she had had an unhealthy relationship with food since her schooldays. And it reached its peak when she was working as a banking manager with a Greggs just down the road from her office.
Staceylee, from Newport, Wales, said: "I was addicted to food and I would think about it constantly. It was my comfort for when I had ups and downs as food always made me feel better until later on when the guilt would hit.
"Working in the banking office was hard as there was temptation everywhere; if it was someone's birthday, there would be a cake, or at long meetings we'd have biscuits and coffee. But the biggest culprit was the Greggs down the road.
"I'd go every lunchtime and order the usual; a steak bake, a sausage and bean melt, ham and cheese baguette and a jam doughnut. Thinking about it now, makes me feel sick but that was the norm for me.
''My eating and lifestyle habits now are worlds away from my banking days and I couldn't be happier!"
After years of yo-yo weight loss, in March 2014, Staceylee, then a size 18, joined a slimming group where she lost eight dress sizes in 12 months, leaving her weighing just 10st 5lb.
But despite the amazing results, she found herself slipping into unhealthy habits of restriction and then excessively rewarding herself. She said: "Whilst I got good results, I still found temptations all around. There was a chip shop right by where we'd meet each week.
"On weigh-in day, I'd starve myself all day and then reward myself with a greasy battered sausage, cheesy chips and gravy. Even after losing the weight, I still had an unhealthy relationship with food."
In 2015, Staceylee joined a gym and started weight training. She said: "I loved seeing the results and my muscles getting more and more defined. It was so refreshing to be active after the long hours I was working at the bank.''
Staceylee found that the slimming group no longer served her lifestyle and she left in March 2015 to focus on weight training at the gym. In July 2017, she was made redundant from her banking job of nearly 10 years and she threw herself into her bodybuilding training which saw her compete in her first body building competition, Bodypower in May 2018.
She said: "Even though I didn't place, it was my first competition and I was so proud of myself. The preparation that goes into competitions is insane, so from going to eating excessively to the self-control required to be a contestent, was just amazing."
Staceylee then completed her first ever bodybuilder competitive year which saw her invited to the PCA British Finals. But when lockdown hit in 2020, like most of the UK, Staceylee was thrown into uncertainty and found herself falling back into old habits.
"In the first seven weeks of lockdown, I put on two stone which was crazy!'' she admitted. "I missed going to the gym to train for competitions and found myself comfort eating again. Like any addictions, once I'd had a taste, I couldn't stop. I'd eat biscuits with cups of tea when watching TV and my love of potatoes was back in full force."
But in October of last year, weighing 15st, Stacylee became determined to get back into shape and contacted her old training coach. She said: "I went to the gym every day and me and my coach would train weekly. I've managed to shed just shy of six stone "Now I can't even find women's size 4 jeans that fit and I have to shop in the children's section."
Staceylee puts her results down to consistency in both diet and exercise, and her personal training business has been going from strength to strength. "What I've learnt and what I tell my clients now is you can't fix a bad diet with exercise alone," she said.
''It has to be a two-pronged attack if you want results. I used to believe that I could eat whatever I wanted as long as I went to the gym."
Last month, Staceylee came first in the Fit X Welsh Championships which is her first win since getting back into her training.
"Words can't describe how proud I felt on that stage," she said. "Just last year, I was in such a bad place both physically and emotionally, so to be able to get back to my competition physique and get such a big win, it's very exciting.
"I'm living proof that you can come back after many lows. When I put on the weight during lockdown, there were times I didn't think I would get back to this point, but with hard work and determination, I did it.
"I'm the happiest I've ever been and I wouldn't swap that for the world, especially not a Greggs steak bake."
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