JENNY LEE felt trapped in her body after becoming “obsessed” with Starbucks, fried chicken and chips – slowly piling on the pounds until she reached a UK size 26.
But she was able to achieve the “impossible” and shed 120lbs – about 8st – without counting a single calorie, or resorting to weight loss jabs or surgery.
Jenny Lee, 30, struggled with her weight from her teen years after getting hooked on fast food Credit: Jam Press
But she managed to lose 8st after trying a 30-day programme that just ‘clicked’ Credit: Jam Press
All the 30-year-old did was commit to getting through a 30-day programme that involved moving her body for just 20 to 30 minutes daily.
Jenny, a corporate communications worker from Oklahoma, US, says: “I made the deal with myself that I would give it 30 days – just 30 days where I would stop making excuses, stop starting over and truly show up for myself.
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“If I got to the end and hated it, I never had to do it again.
“But somewhere in those 30 days, something clicked.
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Jenny says she used to ‘live to eat’ Credit: Jam Press
Feeling trapped and uncomfortable in her body, losing weight seemed impossible Credit: Jam Press
“I started feeling proud of myself and I started believing that maybe I really could do this.
“By the end of the 30 days, I was hooked.
“And I was so hooked to how empowered I was feeling, I didn’t ever want to lose that again.”
Now, she is almost unrecognisable, wearing a svelte size US 2-4 (UK 6-8) and the food noise in her head is no longer deafening.
Jenny struggled with her weight from the age of 14, but her relationship with food began to spiral after she got her driving licence aged 16 and suddenly had the freedom to buy whatever she wanted.
“My life used to truly revolve around food and I used to live to eat,” she recalls.
Despite growing up in a household where her mother prioritised healthy food and fitness, Jenny found herself increasingly turning to fast food, sweets and fried meals.
A typical day could begin with a Venti Starbucks Frappuccino and pastry, followed by a snack.
Jenny thought about her weight constantly Credit: Jam Press
She was bullied for it and constantly felt that other were judging her Credit: Jam Press
Lunch would often be fried chicken, large fries and a large soda, followed by a huge dessert.
Dinner was usually another fried meal with mashed potatoes, rolls and butter, before another sweet treat to finish the day.
Before long, the weight piled on.
Jenny says she was relentlessly bullied and picked on for her size.
She was also pre-diabetic and considered morbidly obese.
Jenny said: “My weight affected almost every aspect of my life.
“I thought about my weight constantly, what I was wearing, how I looked sitting down, whether I would be the biggest girl in the room, whether someone was looking at me or judging me.
“There were times I didn’t want to participate or be seen because I was so uncomfortable in my own skin.”
Jenny had an epiphany at the age of 22 Credit: Jam Press
Jenny began moving her body for 20 to 30 minutes a day and overhauled her diet – but never counted calories Credit: Jam Press
After years of feeling trapped, Jenny suddenly had an “epiphany”, realising: “This is the only body I’m ever going to have.”
“I was 22 years old and it just hit me that this was all in my control and I was the only one who could change my predicament,” she adds.
“I’m going to live in it for the rest of my life, and I finally realised I needed to start taking care of it instead of constantly fighting against it.
“I also had to be honest with myself and realise that I was the one who had gotten myself to this point, which meant I was the only person who could get myself out of it.
“No one was going to walk in and change my life for me.
“If my choices had gotten me here, then my choices could take me somewhere different.”
Despite this change in mindset, actually losing the weight “felt completely impossible”, Jenny says.
“I had convinced myself that because I couldn’t go back and undo what had already happened to my body, there was no point in taking care of the body I had now,” she recalls.
Jenny soon became hooked on fitness, taking up weight training and Pilates Credit: Jam Press
Now she says: ‘My priority is being strong and healthy, not necessarily as thin as I can be’ Credit: Jam Press
Rather than setting herself a target of losing a daunting amount of weight, Jenny committed to following Whole30 and moving her body every day for just 30 days.
She began by spending 20-30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical daily, before joining a gym and discovering a passion for fitness.
Over the course of a year, she lost 120lbs naturally and went from wearing a US size 22 to a US size 2.
Jenny focused on whole foods and daily movement, while removing refined sugar, grains, dairy, soy and gluten from her diet.
She began preparing protein-rich meals and keeping healthy snacks ready in the fridge so that making a better choice was easier.
Breakfast could be scrambled eggs with meat, while lunch might be eggs with turkey and sweet potatoes.
Dinner typically consisted of a protein, potatoes, vegetables and fruit.
Crucially, Jenny says she never tracked calories throughout her journey.
Jenny has noticed a change in how people treat her since she’s lost weight Credit: Jam Press
But she says she feels more confident than ever and free Credit: Jam Press
She said: “I know calorie deficits work amazing for some people, but the way my brain works, it never clicked.
“I would stress too much over the numbers.
“I realised that for me, counting chemicals in food mattered more than counting the calories.
“I would so much rather eat my classic stuffed dates that are more calories than someone’s protein ice-cream, because eating whole, healthy foods that aren’t super processed, full of fake ingredients and fillers and gums, is so much better for you.
“Paying attention to the ingredients in foods, rather than the calories, made the biggest difference in my life.”
Jenny also does at least 10,000 steps a day and loves strength training and pilates.
She makes a conscious effort not to weigh herself.
“My priority is being strong and healthy, not necessarily as thin as I can be,” she explains.
Since losing weight, Jenny has noted a huge change in the way other people approach her.
She said: “I spent so much time trying to make myself valuable in other ways, before losing weight.
“I would do anything for anyone, rarely say no and constantly put other people’s needs before my own.
“One of the strangest parts has been seeing how differently some of the boys I grew up with interact with me now.
“The popular boys who would have never looked twice at me, let alone gone out of their way to talk to me, suddenly knew exactly who I was after I lost the weight and started reaching out.
“Girls who would have never wanted to hang out with me also reached out to say we should hang out.
“It’s such a strange feeling because I’m still the same girl they went to school with.
“Experiences like that have made me realise just how differently the world can treat you when your appearance changes.”
More importantly for Jenny, though, is how she now feels about herself after her incredible transformation.
She added: “My life has changed in almost every way.
“I’m more confident, but more than that, I feel empowered.
“When something feels impossible, I can look back at what I’ve already done and remind myself that I can do hard things.
“There’s also a freedom in my life now that is hard to explain unless you’ve lived without it.
“I don’t walk into a room thinking about how my clothes look on me, how I’m standing, how I’m sitting or whether someone is judging what I’m eating.
“I don’t spend every moment trying to make myself look smaller or worrying about how much space I’m taking up. I can just be present.”
