Tina Cohen began her weight loss journey last June after her husband caught Covid and suffered a heart attack scare. This motivated the couple to change their lifestyle habits to become healthier and happier.
Tina wanted to make changes to her household’s diet to help her husband, but she also knew she needed to lose weight.
After giving up smoking 10 years ago, the 53-year-old from Hertfordshire gained weight and was classified as obese by her doctor.
Before deciding to lose weight last June, Tina weighed 16 stone, but is now a much healthier 11 stone.
She did it by adding healthier foods to her diet, restocking her fridge “from scratch”.
Tina explained her decision to find a healthier diet plan, saying: “My whole journey really started when my husband spoke to his doctor about what we suspected to be Covid in June last year.
“Although he only had one symptom, the doctor was keen for him to go in for a general check-up. The doctor did a blood test and he passed out.
“Within an hour, my husband was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack, which frightened the life out of us both.
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“Fortunately, it was another false alarm, but I went to bed that night thinking that we had to do something. We were both overweight – I weighed 102kg (16st) and he was around 115kg (18st).
“We knew about the reported risks of being overweight if we caught the virus, so the next morning, we completely re-stocked our kitchen from scratch.”
Tina started to lose weight with the help of Noom, a subscription-based app that tracks a slimmer’s food intake and exercise habits.
“It was Noom that really gave me a kickstart to getting healthy,” Tina explained.
“The way we eat and what we eat has changed dramatically. Noom has taught me how to eat and how to eat well without cutting out lots of the good stuff.”
Before her weight loss, “even putting on shoes was a struggle” for Tina, but now, everything has changed.
“My friends and family have seen a huge change in me since June, especially on our last holiday,” Tina said.
“For the first time since I’ve been married to my husband, I wore a bikini. My mother-in-law was absolutely amazed at how I’ve lost the weight and managed to maintain it.”
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Tina’s secrets to her weight loss included cutting out junk food and fast-food from her diet, eating healthier foods, and doing plenty of exercise.
During lockdown, Tina and her husband “used to walk three to five miles every day around the garden”.
She also became much more aware of what she was putting in her body, which helped a lot with her weight loss.
Tina said: “Now, I’m much more educated in nutrition and putting together a plate of food that is balanced.
“I’ve tried the keto diet in the past, but it made me incredibly lethargic, so I learned that I needed carbs for energy if I was going to exercise.
“Not only did I completely empty my cupboards on that first day, but my kitchen is completely rearranged with new utensils.”
Tina and her husband now only have “fresh food” in the house and they avoid takeaways, preferring to make a “homemade pizza” and eat “low-calories ice cream” if they want to treat themselves.
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The 53-year-old said: “I naturally get hormonal peaks and troughs throughout the month where I feel like I could just eat a whole packet of biscuits, but now, I’ll make low fat muffins instead.”
Tina said her weight loss has massively impacted both her physical and mental health, and has even made a “significant difference to my confidence”.
She added: “I haven’t worn a skirt for years but put one on recently to go to work and my husband was shocked.
“My friends and family are so proud of me. It’s been so good for me and my mental health and I feel like a completely different person.”
