A MUM of three who lost five stone in just six months has managed to squeeze back into her wedding dress and is even considering renewing her vows.
Size 18 and weighing more than 17 stone, Andrea Hall says life was very stressful as she is a full-time carer to her two autistic children Jessica, eight, and Daniel, four.
"It would often mean polishing off whole packets of biscuits at once and eating takeaways a few times a week – I just had no time," said Andrea, 36, of Woodroffe Close, Chelmer Village, who is now a size 12.
"One sweet would be for the children and mummy would have them as well, but that was just an excuse for me to eat more.
"I had to stick up a disgusting photo of me in the fridge and in the cupboard just to stop me eating."
But Andrea knew after gaining weight from her third child, William, now two, something drastic had to change because she was "fed-up" with feeling like a "frumpy mummy".
She tried all kinds of diets but nothing worked for her, until she started Herbalife.
"I was sceptical at first – I thought they were going to make me starve myself," said Andrea.
"And I never thought in a million years it would work for me.
"It is just a bit surreal to be honest, I really don't ever remember being skinny, not at school, not ever.
"I am a very tall person, 5ft 10in, so I have always hid my weight well and I always wore black."
The diet involves replacing breakfast and lunch with a shake, smoothie or juice, eating around three snacks a day and just having one healthy meal in the evening.
Andrea is now on a maintenance programme and has a shake for breakfast, a healthy lunch and dinner, but admits to doing no exercise as part of the regime, although she recommends it for others.
"To be honest I am always running after the kids, so that itself keeps me fit," she laughed.
"Bread is a treat. I used to really love French sticks and things like that but I don't eat them any more.
"And I can have a roast dinner so long as it doesn't amount to more than 800 calories."
Husband, David, 44, is so proud of Andrea's achievements he has also decided to take up the Herbal Life programme for himself.
Andrea is now an independent distributor and Wellness coach for Herbalife, and runs weight-loss groups.
Andrea said: "I absolutely love the job. It fits into my lifestyle and I really enjoy meeting people and giving them the confidence to go ahead and change their lives.
"I love bumping into people I haven't seen in a really long time and shouting, 'Yes it's me!'
"I even managed to fit back into my wedding dress. I got married ten years ago and now have room to spare, so I'm even contemplating renewing my vows."
Visit www.loseweighthl.co.uk or call Andrea Hall on 07810 032945.
