18 April 2023 , 12:40
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A fast food lover has lost five stone after ditching her £100 a week takeaway habit.
Jen Hinde, 35, used to be afraid to look in the mirror as she thought she looked "like a beached whale" thanks to her regular takeaway food deliveries.
The mum-of-one suffered from painful Fibromyalgia, a long-term illness that causes pain and muscle stiffness all over the body, and she struggled to exercise due to the pain.
But when she ballooned to 18st 5lb, Jen was told by a doctor that she was heading for a liver transplant if she carried on the way she was.
After being jolted into action, Jen decided to ditch the takeaways and was able to shed the weight by cooking healthy, nutritious meals at home.
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And Jen - who now weighs 12st 10lb - feels so comfortable in her body that she proudly flaunts her slimline figure in photos online.
Jen was told by a doctor that she'd need to lose some weight (Jen Hinde / SWNS)
Now she's dropped to just 12st 10lb (Jen Hinde / SWNS)How much do you spend on takeaways? Let us know in the comments...
Jen said: "I can now look at myself in the mirror.
"I go swimming a lot more now, mainly because I can actually get in a swimming costume without thinking I'm going to look like a beached whale.
"I didn't use to do it before and now I can do. I would have never taken a picture and if I did, would have never dreamt of posting them.
"But now I post loads because I just think 'look what I've done.'
"I don't want to sound up my own bum or anything but I've done awesome."
Jen, who is mum to Lucy, 12, would simply order takeaways when she was in a lot of pain.
Jen used to order a takeaway almost every day (Jen Hinde / SWNS)
But now she does a lot of home cooking (Jen Hinde / SWNS)But looking back, she admits she was 'using that as an excuse to not cook' and now batch cooks meals on pain-free days to freeze and heat up later in the week.
And she always has a few Slimming World ready meals stashed in the freezer incase she is in too much pain to stand up and cook.
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Jen said: "I looked back at my Just Eat account and there's something stupid like 50 pages of orders and it was like every other day.
"I am in a lot of pain and I was using that as an excuse to not cook and not even try.
"I was using my pain as an excuse and some days I wouldn't even be in pain, but I thought that if I did cook, then I would be in pain.
"I was definitely a pizza advocate and I would eat a whole large pizza to myself with loads of sauce and stuffed crust, Pizza Hut was my favourite."
Jen decided to join Slimming World last year after being told by doctors she had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which was at the fibrosis stage.
Jen said she's never felt better (Jen Hinde / SWNS)
She's regained her health, and her confidence (Jen Hinde / SWNS)But when she went back for her annual check-up this year, she was 'over the moon' when she found out losing the weight had made her liver go back to normal.
Jen, of St Helens, Merseyside, said: "I had the scan and the nurse wouldn't tell me what the scan said whilst I was lying down.
"She got me to come back over and sit down but the nurse was welling up.
"She then told me my liver has gone back to a normal, healthy one and she said it was so rare that she gets to share that news.
"I was over the moon and my nan was there as well, so all three of us were so happy.
"I was like 'oh my God I've done it' because this is the whole reason why I joined and it made it all so much more worth it.
"Although I didn't like myself, the health aspect was ringing in my mind and I knew I had to do it for my health and not for looks.
"But just having that confirmed to me that I've turned my life around in a year was just great."