A PERSONAL trainer revealed she ditched her friends after they made fun of her incredible weight loss journey – after she shed 10 stone.
Mum Nicole Caperilla revealed she had been overweight since childhood, after developing unhealthy eating habits gorging on greasy foods such as burgers and pizzas.
Nicole, from Connecticut, USA, says working night shifts and
becoming a mum saw her weight creep up 19 stone, and her numerous diets she had
tried failed.
She said: “I’ve struggled with my weight since I was a child
but got rid of it. It wasn’t until my first pregnancy I put on so much weight
and couldn’t lose it.
“I tried every diet and supplement to lose it and it wasn’t
budging.
“I also didn’t make the best food choices either and wasn’t consistent.
“I’d eat a lot of things like burgers and pizzas and
processed junk foods that were really high in carbs. I ate so many carbs.
“I think I’d let it go on because I wasn’t putting my health
first. Working night shifts meant terrible sleeping patterns and it was hard to
make good choices.
“I became a stay at home mom and then it just got even worse
putting myself on the back burner.
“I just kept going even though I was struggling physically, mentally and emotionally with being morbidly obese.
“I never had any energy and I was always out of breath. I
got winded by the smallest things and was borderline diabetic, borderline sleep
apnoea and had high blood pressure.
“One of the scariest times for me were when I was waking
myself up in a panic gasping for breath because I’d stopped breathing in my
sleep.”
The turning point for Nicole came in 2017, when she horrified by how she looked in a photo, and after jumping on the scales she vowed to lose weight.
That same year she had a weight loss surgery, known as vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG), where part of the stomach is removed.
After getting the all-clear from her doctor, two weeks later
she began working out five to six days a week.
She began walking everywhere, and swapped her unhealthy
meals for protein-rich foods such as lean chicken, beans and fish.
Nicole began focusing on cardio and weight training, and saw
the pounds drop off until she weighed nine stone.
She said: “I changed my diet right away and started eating a high protein diet. I get my protein from things such as lean meats, beans and protein supplements.
“I’ll have oatmeal for breakfast, sweet potatoes and veggies
for lunch and protein and veggies for dinner. I also eat a lot of fruit now
which I rarely did before.
“As soon as I was given the go ahead by my doctor two weeks
after my surgery, I started working out five to six days a week doing weights
and cardio.”
But while her husband, Charlie, was supportive, her closest friends made fun of her efforts.
She said: “Although I never received any nasty comments to
my face, I did receive rude comments after my weight loss success from some of
the people closest to me.
“I’m talking about friends I’d had all my life.
“They were not supportive at all. They would criticise
everything about me and put me down not realising their jokes hurt.
“They’d judge or joke about what I was wearing and tell me I wasn’t perfect. They were very negative.
“It took me a long time to come to realise they were just
jealous with the help of some friends and my husband Charlie. I realised that I
didn’t need to have people like that in my life.
“My husband and other friends have been incredible and I’ve
made so many new supportive friends too.”
Buoyed by her success, she ditched her friends and became a
personal trainer.
She uses her journey to inspire other people, but says ultimately she just feels happier being healthy.
Nicole added: “I’m so proud of myself for losing weight and
my internal transformation too.
“I’m more positive, I empower others, I make goals and I
chase them and achieve them.
“If you want to lose weight then my advice would be to start today. Don’t even wait for Monday to come around. Do it now, and absolutely do it just for you.
“I had so much self-doubt. I think we all do… never in a
million years would I have ever have imagined I’d be where I am today.
“I changed my life around and even became a personal trainer
because I want to help others to do the same.
“It is possible and guess what? It feels so good to be
healthy.”
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