IT’S been a year of baking banana bread and binging Netflix on the sofa.
So it’s no surprise that 48 per cent of Brits say they have gained weight this year.
But while most of us are only just starting to try and lose our lockdown weight ahead of restrictions lifting, others have spent the past year transforming their lives.
Here, we speak to four Sun readers who look totally different to a year ago.
‘I lost seven stone after binging on party food in lockdown one’
Student and plus-size model Charlie Shattock, 31, lives with her daughter Maisy, 11, in Taunton, Somerset.
She says:“I work as a body positive influencer on Instagram and I really believe women should be proud to be fat and plus size.
But during the first lockdown I gained three and a half stone and didn’t notice how easily it went on.
At the start of lockdown I was 24st and quickly went up to 27st 7lbs – it was the heaviest I had ever been.
I was permanently at home and grazing throughout the day. We’d have party food, crisps and sandwiches between meals and picnics outside in the garden.
I knew I had to do something about it. But undergoing a traditional diet wouldn’t work.
Charlie Shattock
And then there was the alcohol – I’m a Somerset girl so I love cider and could drink three bottles a night.
The trigger for me to do something about my weight happened one day when I was walking the dog in the fields near my house and I realised my back was killing me.
I knew I had to do something about it. But undergoing a traditional diet wouldn’t work.
I’m a yo-yo dieter and in the past if I’ve lost three stone, I then put on five.
At the end of the first lockdown I booked with a clinic in Turkey to have a gastric sleeve fitted.
It cost me £3,600 – but I knew it would be worth it so I could ride my bike with my daughter. I hadn’t been fit enough to do it in lockdown.
I flew out in September and had the surgery the same evening. I recovered in hospital for three days, spent one night in a hotel and then flew home.
It was a month before I was able to eat solid food. For the first two weeks I had protein shakes.
The weight came off quickly. Now I’m dropping a stone a month.
I was concerned about what my followers would say. I’ve got 17.6k followers on Instagram and 29.9k on TikTok. But they’ve been supportive.
Today I weigh 20.1 after losing seven stone. I’m the same person and I want to stress it’s okay to be fat.
I’ve done this for my health. But there is nothing wrong with being a plus size.”
‘Chow mein hid my pain’
Customer services manager Mark Kiley, 34, is single and lives in Canning Town, London.
He says:“In February 2020 I looked into working out with a personal trainer but my heart wasn’t in it.
My ‘friends’ were booze and Chinese takeaways four nights a week.
If I was out with friends we’d start off with five happy hour cocktails each before going on to dance at a club where I’d have Prosecco and shots before ending up at McDonalds.
To cope with my hangover I’d have another fast food takeaway the next morning too.
I’m an emotional eater and in life whenever I have any negative thoughts – a chow mein blocked them out.
By March when we went into lockdown I had bad anxiety. I’d had it for years but as the month progressed something changed.
I realised that as the world had stopped around us I could do something about me for me.
Covid made me realise I wasn’t getting any younger. I used to tell everyone I was 26 – when I am actually 34 – but I wanted to put the real me out there when all this was over.
My got myself a trainer who put together a diet plan. He’d give me little tips such as don’t go for a ready meal but have a high-protein cheese snack instead.
In lockdown I worked out five days a week at home on a treadmill I set up in the garden shed.
I was too shy to run in the park. I was afraid of seeing those runners gliding effortlessly by while I’d be jogging and needing to stop regularly.
I got a resistance band and while I tried to buy weights the shops were sold out so I used milk cartons instead and would squat with a bag of potatoes on my back.
Thanks to the pandemic, I feel really good about myself
Mark Kiley
When people used to talk about the gym and how good they felt I used to think they were mad. But I started to get the “high” after exercising and it helped me with my anxiety.
Today I allow myself one takeaway a week. I’ve lost five stone over the last year. I’ve gone from 105kg to 70kg.
My family say I’m a completely different person too. Before I needed reassurance all the time.
I’d send pictures of my outfits to friends before going out. I put my profile on a dating app recently and got 500 messages.
Now, thanks to the pandemic, I feel really good about myself.”
‘I love my new hunky look’
Carer and door supervisor Christopher Saleh, 34, is single and lives in Manchester.
He says:“Before the pandemic I weighed eight stone. I was a gymnast as a kid and had a skinny weedy body.
I’ve always been active and on the day before March lockdown I arrived home from climbing Snowdonia.
I was in a lot of pain especially in my knees. It made me realise I needed to start looking after myself.
I didn’t see the point in takeaways or drinking while we were confined at home. I made an effort to cook chicken, steak and pasta meals instead.
I like cooking for people and while I don’t enjoy vegetables I do eat a lot of fruit.
Stopping drinking meant swapping those nights out for working out. Before I loved lager and pink gin and lemonade.
While I loved the high from getting tipsy, I soon discovered that the high from exercising replaces it.
In the first lockdown I was living between my mum and dad. Dad’s got a multigym at home with weights, a rowing machine and bench.
Before I started when I looked in the mirror I saw a skinny shy lad but now I get so many compliments.
The pandemic has meant that I don’t want to go out anymore just to get legless. It helps during lockdown not to drink indoors too.
I’m amazed about the impact it has had on my family too. Now my brother wants me to help him train and get ripped.
The kind of comments I get are flattering.“Check you lad!” is a common one.
Gaining 2st 7lbs of muscle hasn’t just helped me like the person I see in the mirror, it helps me sleep better and feel more positive.
I’m now 10st 5lbs and I like my six pack – I enjoy seeing my muscles. But most importantly I’m living, not just surviving too.”
‘I binned booze – and four stone’
Emma Lonczyk, 44, is married and lives in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
She says:“When we went into the first lockdown last year everyone decided to do their gardens.
The weather was lovely and my garden business was crazy. I was working from 5.30am and getting home at 9.30pm.
Working 15-hour days meant I’d get fish and chips, creamy kormas and kebabs on the way home.
Unsurprisingly during the first lockdown I gained two stone and my weight went up to almost 15st.
By autumn I was drinking almost a bottle of dry white wine a night. I was adamant it was the food I was eating and not the wine I was drinking that made a difference to my weight.
My husband wasn’t drinking at home – it was just me.
It was consumed out of pure habit. I didn’t think it would make much difference to my calorie consumption.
When Boris put us into another lockdown my initial reaction was “not again” but I realised that this time it would be different.
There was no excuse to drink in the garden with friends. We were all confined to home. I’m a social drinker and enjoy meeting up with loved ones.
I ditched the vino on the November 1 and by the end of the month I’d lost 19lbs. I was gobsmacked!
I genuinely didn’t believe it would make such a difference. I’m an all or nothing person and starting at the beginning of the month meant I’d stick it out.
I did the same in December giving myself time off during Christmas and Boxing Day.
While the weight loss has slowed down now there have been other positives. I’ve always been a runner but since ditching the nightly bottle of wine I’m flying round.
MORE IN FABULOUS
It was hard to run when I was bigger and slower too.
I sell carpets and the feedback from customers has been incredible. Clients and suppliers don’t recognise me anymore.
Today I’m 11st. I would never say I’m not drinking again. But lockdown and the pandemic gave me the opportunity to address a drinking habit and change my body shape too.”