Summer special: losing weight – the healthy way

Can drastically changing your diet to lose weight ever be healthy? Caitlin Evans says yes, and that Instagram will tell you how…

I have never been someone who is particularly confident about their body.

For me, like many other women, the thing that I’m most self conscious about is my weight. I’ve tried dieting, exercising, and even eating as little as I possibly could (which obviously isn’t a very healthy idea). The trouble is, I love food and hate exercise, so after a week or so of being on a constrictive diet, or spending an hour or so in the gym every day, I’d give up and order a pizza (woops.)

At the end of Easter, I was preparing to go back to Warwick and, honestly, dreading the amount of weight I’d inevitably put on through stress eating during exam time. Then I came across Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, and his 90 Day SSS (that’s Shift, Shape, and Sustain) plan on Instagram. I spent pretty much a full day scrolling through hundreds of incredible transformation photos, thought, “what the hell,” and signed myself up. As the name suggests, the 90 Day SSS plan is a 90 day diet and exercise plan that’s designed for people of all shapes and sizes, and all fitness levels, and it’s supposed to help you lose weight, build muscle, and above all learn how to sustain all this once the 90 days is over. The plan has three cycles, the first focusing on short 25-minute workouts called ‘HIIT’, in which you do short bursts of high intensity exercise, followed by short periods of rest. In the last two cycles, weights are introduced, helping you to build muscle. I’ve just started my fourth week of cycle one. My transformation isn’t over yet, but already I’m starting to see some positive changes. Even after I’d been on the plan only a week, I noticed that my skin and hair were suddenly in great condition, and I was so much happier, with higher levels of energy. More recently, I’ve noticed my clothes are getting baggier and people have been commenting on how great I look.

As I mentioned earlier, I have never really managed to stay on a diet for much longer than a week, but the main reason I’ve been so motivated is probably because the food on the plan is so incredible. It’s made me realise that I can eat great tasting food and still lose weight and be healthy. The support from Joe and my assigned coach Georgia has also been amazing, as well as the support from the community on Instagram – sharing ideas and tips is brilliant for motivating yourself and others.

If anyone, like me, has always been unhappy with their weight and struggled to find a solution, I would recommend this plan without hesitation. It’s made me look at weight loss in a completely different way, and actually made me feel happy in my skin despite the fact that I’m still not quite at my target weight. I actually can’t wait to get started. Bring it on!