how nancy star jodie shed 11 stone
JODIE PRENGER, FROM BLACKPOOL, IS A NANCY ON I’D DO ANYTHING ON BBC1, SATURDAYS.
Here’s her story of how she slimmed from 20stone to 9st in six months. She’s now a diet and fitness guru.
‘I’ve lived in Blackpool all my life and I’ve always been a big girl.
‘I always wanted to be a dancer, but I was chucked out of dance school because I was too fat.
‘It was dreadful. I can laugh now, and I think that’s how I’ve always coped with being overweight – me, making fun of myself before other people could.
‘But I was unhappy – so very unhappy. I cried myself to sleep at night. I used to go out with the girls, and they’d all pull fellas and I’d be stood there at the sideline, waiting.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR JODIE’S DAILY DIET)
‘I wasn’t living my life as Jodie. I was living in a shell, as I know so many overweight people do. I was scared, and I had to do something about it, because I knew I couldn’t go my entire life being that way. It wasn’t good for my mental health!
‘I went on to The Biggest Loser on Living TV, a weight-loss programme. There were six girls and six boys competing for the prize.
‘There was a twist – one girl was to go on the boys’ team and one boy on the girls’ team… and you can guess which girl ended up with the boys. I had to train like a man!
‘So I was crashing these big hammers, and lifting tractor tyres full of cow dung with my 2” nails on which wasn’t very nice, but I just thought – bring it on! I tell you what – I’m a girly girl (I even French polish my toenails) but there I was doing all these very manly sports.
‘They really do help you shift the weight.
‘At my very heaviest I weighed 20st, but by the time I went into the house I was already down to 18st 2lbs.
‘I was wearing a size 24 at the time, but I was probably a size 26, just trying to squeeze myself into a size smaller!
(SCROLL DOWN FOR JODIE’S DAILY DIET)
‘The first week, I’ll be honest with you, I couldn’t sit down. The muscles in my legs were hurting so much! But I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy road, because if it was that simple I would have lost the weight before.
‘This time was different. I felt so motivated, and as more and more weight came off, I just carried on.
‘By the time I left the house, after 10 weeks, I was already down to a size 18, and had lost 4st 6lbs. I was feeling really good about myself but I knew I still had to go that step further if I wanted to win the competition.
‘Once out of the house, I had to put into practice everything I’d learned from the show’s diet and fitness experts. Angie, my trainer on the show, has been an absolute angel to me.
She taught me how to use kettlebells and do interval training, which definitely helped the weight to come off.
‘When I came out of the house it was harder to keep up the exercise, but I still had help. One of our family friends is an old sergeant major, and he, at the age of 63, still jogs 10 miles every day. He’s brilliant!
‘So I said, “John, you don’t mind if I come jogging with you, do you? Because I don’t like going on my own – I get scared’, and some days I actually ended up running about 12 miles with him.
‘When I came out of the house, I never even touched a takeaway – and I only had about one drink!
‘Chocolate was my biggest worry because I always used to think I needed it to survive, so if I really wanted that chocolate fix I used to just have an Options Hot Chocolate Drink.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR JODIE’S DAILY DIET)
‘You do get past these cravings quite quickly. The first week in the house everyone made each other feel starving, saying: “ooh, I could murder a pizza,” “ooh, I’d love some KFC”.
‘Your mind is craving all these fatty things, but then you get past about three weeks, and you think, ‘you know what? This healthy food is really quite nice!’
Back in my own home, I lost a further 4st 4lbs. I was quite motivated from the start, as my clothes were already very baggy before I even got home.
‘The moments I really notice the change is when other people see me, especially now I’m a size 10-12. People who haven’t seen me in months just don’t know it’s me!
‘It wasn’t easy. There were some mornings when I thought, “I can’t do this – I really can’t.” I don’t want to sound like a crazy person, but you’ve really got to find that voice inside that says, “I’ve not worked this hard to give up now.”
‘The main thing that Angie always says to me, which really works, is: “Never give up!” I didn’t want to give up on myself any more.
‘I’d let myself down for the past 20-odd years, and I wasn’t going to do it again. I know I was given such an amazing opportunity, that thousands of people had applied for, but the principle’s the same for anyone.
‘All my life I’ve tried not to let other people down, but just this once I was selfish – I didn’t want to let myself down.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR JODIE’S DAILY DIET)
‘So if I can give you just one piece of advice, it would be that: Don’t give up. You will get there – it’ll take a while, but you’ll get there.
‘I totally changed my lifestyle. I used to work as a singer and singing teacher, and stayed up late every night.
‘Now I get up every morning. I always walk my dog, I go for a jog - I enjoy life. I enjoy going out with my friends, I don’t feel that I have to hide in a corner or go out of my way to make people laugh; I can just enjoy other people’s company without being paranoid about my weight.
‘Losing weight has opened up a whole new path for me. When I was a comedy singer, the whole act was just me making fun of my weight. I used to jump up and do the splits, and it used to be funny because a big person was doing it.
‘Now I’m really focusing on fitness. I train every day, and I’ve even started training other people as well. They call it mentoring – helping other people lose weight, but it’s keeping me in shape too.
‘Every Thursday night I organise a walk around StanleyPark in Blackpool. It’s totally free, so if you live in the area, come along!
‘I’m teaming up with Angie to run weight-loss weekends all over the UK.
JODIE’S TOP TIPS:
1) The most important thing is to change the whole of you: you change your lifestyle; you change what you eat, where you eat, when you eat, and you will become a different person.
2) Start right away! It’s easy to think, ‘I’ll start tomorrow’. But tomorrow never comes. It’s all about making that tomorrow today.
3) If you’re feeling down, just look at the achievement you’ve made so far. Look at the person you’re turning yourself into. And never, ever, ever give up. You’re worth so much more than that!
NOW READ JODIE’S DAILY DIET
Menu Then
Breakfast – bacon, beans, 2 rounds buttered toast, orange juice
Mid am – 2 chocolate biscuits
Lunch – chicken & stuffing sandwich with butter and mayo
Mid pm – fizzy drinks
Dinner – Chinese takeaway, KFC or pizza
Snack – hot chocolate, or a biscuit
Menu Now
Breakfast – large poached egg on one slice Burgen bread
Mid am – green tea, nuts or an apple
Lunch – sushi or a salad
Mid pm – decaf coffee
Dinner – salmon fillet with roasted, curry-flavoured vegetables
* Visit jodieprenger.tv and get involved in her forum or try out her sample diet day.
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Tags: Beauty, Weight Loss
April 11th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Hi
I was wondering if Jodie could tell me how she applied to become a contestant on “The Biggest Loser UK”?
She look fantastic and feel that the help and support that the show gave her would help me along the way
thanks