A bridesmaid revealed how she shed five dress sizes after being shocked by the way she looked in her cousin’s wedding photos.
Kayla Hatcher, 30, from Grand Bay, Alabama, said she ‘didn’t recognize’ herself in the images from the October 2015 ceremony.
The mother-of-two, who guzzled two litres of fizzy drinks every day, resolved to overhaul her lifestyle and began going to the gym twice a day.
Within 12 months, Kayla had lost 110lbs (7st 8lbs) and dropped from a US size 18 (UK 22) to a US 8 (UK 12) – showing off her new slimmer figure while acting as a bridesmaid at another family wedding a year later.
Kayla managed to shed the pounds by putting an end to her fast food habit, and eating just 1,000 calories a day.
She also began going to the gym twice a day – even getting up at 2.45am to work out before her kids woke up.
Kayla Hatcher, from Grand Bay, Alabama, explained how she decided to lose weight as she didn’t recognize herself in her cousin’s wedding pictures (seen above)
A year later she walked down the aisle as a bridesmaid at another family wedding as a US 8 (UK 12), after deciding she needed to lose weight
Kayla, who weighed 258lbs (18st 4lbs), explained how she didn’t notice how much weight she had put on after having her children, until her cousin’s wedding in 2015.
‘After having babies, my weight crept up,’ she said. ‘My typical day was to watch TV, eat and sleep – I was very unhealthy. But I didn’t pay attention, I just got bigger clothes.
‘After I was photographed in that pink bridesmaid’s dress at my cousin’s wedding in October 2015, I didn’t recognize myself.
‘The dress was awkward and uncomfortable. Everybody else’s looked fabulous on them, but mine wasn’t flattering.
Kayla said her bridesmaids dres looked ‘awkward and uncomfortable’ compared to the other women’s outfits. She is pictured far right with cousin Rachael, and fellow bridesmaids Lacey and Katherine (far left)
‘I was angry I looked like that. I saw like six chins and really big arms. It was bad, but it opened my eyes.
‘That picture changed my life. I stared at it for hours, and knew things had to change.’
Kayla said she would start the day with two sugary bowls of cereal for breakfast before gorging on cakes, pizza or burgers and eating double helpings of fried chicken or pork chops for dinner.
She would guzzle two litres of root beer or Mountain Dew each day, with a gallon of tea with three cups of sugar every two or three days.
But after seeing herself in her cousin’s wedding photos, she decided to join her local gym in March 2016, as well as swapping her sweet tea habit for drinking the recommended daily dosage of water.
After deciding she needed to lose weight, Kayla began eating just 1,000 calories a day and started going to the gym twice a day
She has now lost 110lbs (7st 8lbs) and dropped from a US size 18 (UK 22) to a US 8 (UK 12)
The mother-of-two also began working out for 30 minutes a day before gradually increasing this to three solid hours of weights, squats and crunches daily – going to the gym at 2.45am to complete her workouts in the early hours of the morning before her kids woke.
Kayla slashed her calorie intake from 3,500 to 1,000 a day and began eating smaller portions of healthy home-cooked meals while cutting out noodles, bread and sweets.
By June 2016, she had lost 3st 6lbs and by the end of February 2017, only 11 months after starting her weight loss journey, Kayla had lost a whopping 98lbs (7st).
Exactly a year after she decided to lose weight, Kayla – who now weighed 109lbs (7st 8lbs) lighter – was a bridesmaid again in March 2017 in a different dress.
Kayla said the weight started piling on when she had her two children and her typical day was eating, watching TV and sleeping
She started going to the gym at 2.45am and staying until 5am after becoming ‘addicted’ to it
Kayla, who still runs twice a week, said: ‘It was really hard in the beginning; I really love my sleep. But once I saw it was working, it became easier.
‘I was getting up earlier, I was going longer. By mid 2016, I was going to the gym at 2.45am and staying until about 5am.
‘I became addicted to it, going to the gym first thing in the morning, and running club with the kids after school and gym again at night.
‘It’s overwhelming when you’ve never set foot inside a gym before and know there’s people who go there every day. But I did it.
Her new exercise routine consisted of going to the gym first thing in the morning, running club with her children after school and gym again at night
She says she is ‘thrilled’ she can go out and play with her children and that her weight loss has ‘transformed’ their relationship
‘When I began losing weight, I was thrilled. Never in a million years did I think I could lose 20kg, much less 50kg.’
Kayla says she feels ‘much happier’ about her appearance after transforming her diet and exercise regime.
‘When I went to my cousin’s wedding in a size 4 dress, it was one of the best days of my life,’ she said.
‘I’m still in shock about how much I’ve changed. If I can do it, anyone can. My transformation has changed my life – particularly my relationship with my kids.
‘They’re thrilled I will go outside and play with them now and they love that I come to running club with them.’
Kayla would previously start the day with two sugary bowls of cereal for breakfast before gorging on cakes, pizza or burgers and eating double helpings of fried chicken or pork chops for dinner
Kayla slashed her calorie intake from 3,500 to 1,000 a day and began eating smaller portions of healthy home-cooked meals while cutting out noodles, bread and sweets