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Woman Who Lost 9st In A Year Ditches Unsupportive Pals And Becomes Personal Trainer

Woman Who Lost 9st In A Year Ditches Unsupportive Pals And Becomes Personal Trainer

She says some of her life-long friends criticised her after her weight-loss

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A woman who lost a whopping 57kg (9st) in a year says she had to ditch her negative pals criticised her transformation and has since become a personal trainer to help others.

Nicole Caperilla, 31, admits that she would make 'bad food choices' and tucked into pizzas, burgers and junk foods, which caused her weight to creep up to 120.6kg (19st) and saw her wearing a UK size 24.

Nicole, from Connecticut in the US, says that being overweight left her struggling physically, emotionally and mentally, but that she still found it hard to change her ways.

In 2017, she decided enough was enough and underwent surgery known as 'vertical sleeve gastrectomy' (VSG) which restricts how much someone can eat by removing a part of the stomach.

Just two weeks later, Nicole started working out with weights, walking and switched up her diet. She worked her way up to spending five or six days a week exercising and swapped her junk food for healthy protein-rich meals with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.

A year later, in June 2018, Nicole weighed a healthy 63.5kg (10st) and fit into a UK size 8, which she has been able to maintain.

Nicole before her incredible weight loss.
Media Drum World

Nicole said: "I've struggled with my weight since I was a child but got rid of it. It wasn't until my first pregnancy I put on so much weight and couldn't lose it. I tried every diet and supplement to lose it and it wasn't budging.

"I also didn't make the best food choices either and wasn't consistent. I'd eat a lot of things like burgers and pizzas and processed junk foods that were really high in carbs. I ate so many carbs.

"I think I'd let it go on because I wasn't putting my health first. Working night shifts meant terrible sleeping patterns and it was hard to make good choices. I became a stay at home mom and then it just got even worse putting myself on the back burner.

"I just kept going even though I was struggling physically, mentally and emotionally with being morbidly obese.

"I never had any energy and I was always out of breath. I got winded by the smallest things and was borderline diabetic, borderline sleep apnoea and had high blood pressure. One of the scariest times for me were when I was waking myself up in a panic gasping for breath because I'd stopped breathing in my sleep.

Nicole lost nine stone.
Media Drum World

"By January 2017 I'd had enough. I'd seen pictures of myself that friends had taken and was surprised. I jumped onto the scales and I felt really disappointed and upset with myself when I saw the reading of 19st.

"I knew I had to make some changes to my habits and I decided to have VSG weight loss surgery in June 2017.

"I changed my diet right away and started eating a high protein diet. I get my protein from things such as lean meats, beans and protein supplements.

"I'll have oatmeal for breakfast, sweet potatoes and veggies for lunch and protein and veggies for dinner. I also eat a lot of fruit now which I rarely did before.

"As soon as I was given the go ahead by my doctor two weeks after my surgery, I started working out five to six days a week doing weights and cardio.

"By June 2018 all my hard work paid off and I am pleased to say I'd lost 9st and now weigh 10st."

Nicole says her husband Charlie has offered her amazing support throughout her weight loss journey, but that not everyone was so kind.

She said: "Although I never received any nasty comments to my face, I did receive rude comments after my weight loss success from some of the people closest to me. I'm talking about friends I'd had all my life.

"They were not supportive at all. They would criticise everything about me and put me down not realising their jokes hurt. They'd judge or joke about what I was wearing and tell me I wasn't perfect. They were very negative.

Media Drum World

"It took me a long time to come to realise they were just jealous with the help of some friends and my husband Charlie. I realised that I didn't need to have people like that in my life.

"My husband and other friends have been incredible and I've made so many new supportive friends too."

Nicole is now keen to help her others in a similar situation, so she undertook training and is now a personal trainer and class instructor.

She continued: "I'm so proud of myself for losing weight and my internal transformation too. I'm more positive, I empower others, I make goals and I chase them and achieve them.

"If you want to lose weight then my advice would be to start today. Don't even wait for Monday to come around. Do it now, and absolutely do it just for you.

"I had so much self-doubt. I think we all do... never in a million years would I have ever have imagined I'd be where I am today. I changed my life around and even became a personal trainer because I want to help others to do the same.

"It is possible and guess what? It feels so good to be healthy."

Featured Image Credit: Media Drum World

Topics: Inspirational