Meet the Co Down couple who have lost 4.5 stone between them

After many failed attempts at trying to lose weight, Kelly and Alan Corbett finally discovered a plan that worked for them both and say they have a renewed lease of life, a huge surge in energy, are sleeping better and both have taken up running, having previously not ran since school.

Kelly said: “Alan and I had repeated the same routine every January - Christmas is over, it’s a new year we need to lose weight! I’d join back to the local slimming groups, vowing to lose a stone by February, we would cut out the rubbish, do a walk two to three times a week, then that would be it, back to the old ways, takeaways, junk food and pile on the weight again. By the third week in January we were back to our former routine.

“I was totally sick of what I saw in the mirror looking back at me. I didn’t recognise who that was. And felt the old me was totally gone. It was depressing but I felt there was no way out of this viscous cycle.”

Kelly added: “Alan is a haulage driver for our family business, so leads a very sedentary life. He too, knew he needed to lose weight, but had no idea how to. He works very long hours and his diet involved service stations and grabbing snacks when he could. We both turn 40 this year and I had an inner burning desire that I wanted this to be the year where we changed our health and lost all the weight.”

Kelly said last September she came across local women Angela Hunter and Nicola McIlhagger talking about their Cinch FAST 30 programme (www.cinchfast30.com) on Instagram.

“Something about what they were saying intrigued me and sparked an interest. I had never heard of the concept of intermittent fasting, but after doing some of my own research and seeing some of the amazing health claims by doctors world-wide, and the weight-loss results, I knew I wanted to sign up.”

Kelly and her husband signed up and took on the 30-day challenge and within two weeks “were hooked”.

“This was a completely new way of thinking and a new education, by real people who were in the same boat as us. It challenged the entire diet culture and was a refreshing, new way of thinking.

“We liked the whole ethos of the brand – choose health first, weight loss is just a lovely side-effect. And we loved that they were local ladies who had faced the same weight-loss battles as the rest of us.

There was no weight-loss jargon, no ‘salesy’ approach, just two real women speaking from a first-hand experience explaining that when you eat could have a massive effect on your weight, as well as what you eat.”

“We threw ourselves into the challenge, read all of the online manuals, the recipe book and listened each day to the video which was sent to our inbox. We joined the WhatsApp Group and the closed Facebook Group and immediately loved the vibe. A group of real people, from all over the world, sharing their daily challenges but making huge progress in weight loss and changing their health.”

Kelly said after the initial two weeks the pair were unlearning old habits and breaking sugar and carb addictions, their weight started to come off and their energy levels started to surge.

“Alan started to bring his pre-prepared lunch with him to work and stuck to the programme easily and really enjoyed it. His energy levels were through the roof!

“I think one of the main reasons why this has worked for us is that it is so simple. So do-able. You simply change the timing of your meals. Eat well in your window and move more.

“One of the big things the program hammers home from day one, is that this is a lifestyle change, not a diet, and that is why it works.

“There is no calorie counting, no weighing food, nothing is demonised. It is about making good choices when your eating window is opened. We are encouraged to reduce the highly processed foods, replace all white bread, pasta, rice, with brown. To eat the rainbow, lean protein and up our fibre.

“Once we started, we were much more mindful about what we eat, and after about two weeks, we found that we were no longer craving the sugary, high-carb foods which had contributed to the weight gain in the first place.”

Kelly saw her weight drop from 13 stone 7lbs to 10 Stone 10lbs, dropping two dress sizes from a 14 to a 10. Meanwhile Alan has gone from 17 stone 2lbs to 15 stone 2lbs.

Kelly added that as well as the weight loss and feeling healthier, another benefit has been the new friendships made through peer support.

“We are in daily contact on the WhatsApp group and have been on runs, walks, and in fact we have a whole new running group and are planning all sorts of fun activities over the coming months. We recently completed the Belfast Marathon, three teams of 15 runners in total, with Alan and I doing the last leg together!”