A fast food addict who scoffed at least two takeaways every week has lost six stone after swapping her favourite dishes for homemade versions.
Emma Snow, 26, from Stoke-on-Trent, wanted to lose weight after struggling to find any clothes that she felt comfortable in when tipping the scales at 16st7lb.
The marketing executive vowed to cut out her weekly takeaways from her diet and started walking more and reducing her calorie intake to 1,400 a day.
Emma began an Instagram account where she would document her meals and recipes daily; racking up an impressive 21,000 followers since starting three years ago.
Now, Emma has managed to reach her goal weight of 10 and a half stone and has dropped from a size 18 to a size 10 since beginning her weight loss journey in Spring 2017.
Emma Snow (pictured right, recently), 26, from Stoke-on-Trent, wanted to lose weight after struggling to find any clothes that she felt comfortable in when tipping the scales at 16st7lb (pictured left)
The marketing executive (pictured recently) vowed to cut out her weekly takeaways from her diet and started walking more and reducing her calorie intake to 1,400 a day
Emma began an Instagram account where she would document her meals and recipes daily (pictured); racking up an impressive 21,000 followers since starting three years ago
Emma explained: ‘I’ve had issues with my weight all my life; I’ve always been the chubby kid and as I grew up, countless times I tried to lose weight using fad diets but they never lasted long because it wasn’t sustainable for me.
‘After I met my fiancé, I was the biggest I had ever been because we would just sit there watching telly and eating food.
‘I went through my entire wardrobe and couldn’t find anything I felt comfortable in,’ she recalled.
Now, Emma has managed to reach her goal weight of 10 and a half stone and has dropped from a size 18 (pictured) to a size 10 since beginning her weight loss journey in Spring 2017
Emma (pictured recently) explained: ‘I’ve had issues with my weight all my life; I’ve always been the chubby kid and as I grew up, countless times I tried to lose weight using fad diets but they never lasted long because it wasn’t sustainable for me’
Emma said: ‘I started seeing fakeaways on Instagram; loads of people were making Chinese dishes and Chinese was always my favourite takeaway so I thought I would give it a go and it was actually nicer than the original.’
She added: ‘Since then, I’ve made salt and pepper chips, sticky chilli beef, sweet and sour dishes, chicken satay skewers, pizza wraps, Indian jalfrezi curry, samosas, a McDonald’s double big mac, breakfast muffins and even a homemade KFC.
‘It has also saved us a huge amount of money; we would spend £100 a month on takeaways and we’ve definitely noticed a difference since making our own.
‘I started walking to work and trying to get out and about on my lunch break and it all really made a difference. My mental health has improved massively and now it’s just about maintaining a healthy lifestyle’.
Emma said: ‘I started seeing fakeaways (pictured) on Instagram; loads of people were making Chinese dishes and Chinese was always my favourite takeaway so I thought I would give it a go and it was actually nicer than the original.’
Emma added: ‘Since then, I’ve made salt and pepper chips, sticky chilli beef, sweet and sour dishes (pictured right), chicken satay skewers, pizza wraps, Indian jalfrezi curry, samosas, a McDonald’s double big mac (pictured left), breakfast muffins and even a homemade KFC.;
Emma shares her popular fakeaway recipes (pictured) on her Instagram account, with many followers going on to recreate them at home. She now eats 1,800 calories a day to maintain her weight
Emma shares her popular fakeaway recipes on her Instagram account, with many followers going on to recreate them at home. She now eats 1,800 calories a day to maintain her weight.
She said: ‘I plan all my meals for the whole week. It helps me to stay on track but also budget better when we go food shopping. I hated the way I looked and I felt so uncomfortable that it just sparked this passion inside me and I was determined to do it.
‘Joining Instagram and setting up a weight loss account and following other people definitely spurred me on; I posted all my meals on there. It’s just about maintaining a healthy lifestyle rather than dieting.
‘It was definitely an uphill battle in terms of mental health; I’m a completely different person to who I was. If I can do it, then anyone can do it as long as you stick to it’.