Jo was determined to get back to her former glory

Name : Jo Healy

Age : 32

Weight Lost : 50lb in total (3 stone 6lb)

Jo Healy is a fitness fanatic come blogger who began recording her weight loss journey in 2009. Initially wanting to get into shape for her holiday, she soon decided that it was time to change her lifestyle and shake off her food demons once and for all.

Jo reached her goal weight on the 25th June 2009 having lost 50lbs. She is now dedicated to keeping in shape and enjoys the challenge. We caught up with her to find out how she achieved her new body and just how she maintains it!

She now runs Jag's Fitness blog, a medium through which she now communicates her experiences and tribulations with losing weight for like minded people to follow

How did you shift the weight and what was your primary motivation?

My main motivation in the first instance was vanity - I hated the way I looked and wanted to be slim again. In my teens and early twenties, I had always been quite slender and wanted to get back to that. I took photographs at the start of my weight loss journey, in my underwear - from the front, side and back and planned to take new pictures 4-6 weeks later - I was determined not to look like that in my second set of pictures.

As I have lost weight, my motivation has changed somewhat and whilst I am still focused on how I look, I also focus more now on how I feel from a general health point of view.

I am also motivated by my fitness levels - I started off not even being able to run more than 3 miles and I'm now able to run for 13. I struggled to lift the smallest of weights but I'm almost able to bench press half my body weight and can dead lift my own body weight. Seeing progress like this helps to keep me pushing for more.

I lost weight by calorie counting and exercising and have always enjoyed learning about nutrition and fitness (I qualified as a fitness instructor in 1998) so know a bit more than the average person about losing weight - I just always struggled to put it into practice

I'm a big believer in quality of food over quantity. I eliminated junk and convenience foods such as freezer meals, sauces in jars or tins, crisps, chocolate, biscuits, sweets and alcohol. I also learned about how sugar, particularly refined sugars can affect our health and eliminated refined sugars. On top of this, I made sure I paid better attention to food labels and didn't eat anything that had sugar listed in the first 5 ingredients. If there was something listed on the label that I didn't recognise then I didn't eat it.

I also focused a lot on strength training and managed to lose a fair amount of weight in the past by sticking mostly to cardio exercise and sure, I lost weight but I ended up skinny fat - thin but with a high body fat % so I still jiggled. I didn't want to make that mistake this time so the majority of my exercise was weight lifting with heavy weights. I know for a fact that without doing weights, I wouldn't have changed my shape as drastically as I have.

We read in your latest blog post that you received a heart-warming email from a follower who is now well on her way to her target weight and all thanks to your advice. This has got to feel good? Does it motivate you more?

It absolutely does. Knowing you have inspired someone that much is an amazing feeling and it makes me feel really proud, not just of myself but of that person too. I only give them the information they need, they are the ones that have to do all the hard work, deal with the cravings when they want to eat junk or force themselves off the sofa to train when all they want to do is veg out and watch TV.

It also motivates me to keep going with my own journey. Knowing that people look up to me and read my blog daily to see how I'm doing definitely helps to keep me on the straight and narrow! I like to show people that I do practice what I preach but I'm also totally honest on the blog too and people have said how much they appreciate that as it makes them feel better if they slip up knowing that the person they look up to has those blips too.

It’s quite clear that much of your success is owed to exercise and clean eating. Many of our customers tell us that this isn’t always easy. What advice would you give them?

I know in the past when I have told people how I lost weight they have flinched and said "oooh, I couldn't do that, it's so restrictive" but it really isn't. You only have to look at my blog and take a peek at my food photos to see that I eat delicious, nourishing food. Losing weight doesn't have to equal starvation or misery and I can say with my hand on my heart that I love the way I eat and that I don't feel deprived. Obviously, I give myself a break at times - if I want to eat some white bread or drink a glass of wine I do but it is the exception rather than the rule.

My biggest tip for anyone wanting to clean up their diet would be to take small steps. Changing too many things at once can prove too much and result in you just giving up. Switch to wholemeal varieties of bread, rice and pasta, add in a fruit or vegetable to every meal, and cook more meals from scratch using fresh ingredients rather than those in jars or tins. Pay closer attention to food labels to see what is going into your food - if there is something there that you do not recognise, look for an alternative or see if it can be made at home.

Choose quality over quantity - an organic free range chicken breast that costs £2-3 and is going to taste so much better than a box of 2 breaded "chicken breasts" that you can buy for £1. Try and cut down on or eliminate refined sugars and again, pay attention to your food labels. Ingredients are listed in order of the greatest amount contained in the food so you will be surprised how many food items have sugar as a main ingredient. Have a look at how many grams are contained in it and then try adding that amount to a cup of tea just to see how much it equates to.

Exercise is vital to being fit and healthy so it is important to enjoy what you do. Exercise doesn't have to mean sweating it out in the gym - find a dance class - zumba is a new craze that is lots of fun and you don't realise how hard you are working - play tennis with a friend, join a netball team, drive somewhere beautiful at the weekend and spend a couple of hours walking, buy bicycles for the family and get fit and healthy together, buy a couple of exercise DVDs and workout in the comfort of your own home. It doesn't have to be tedious.

If you are looking to change your shape and achieve a firm, shapely figure, strength training is going to be essential. You can do your weights in the gym, try out a body pump class (which is lifting weights to music in a class formation), do exercises using your own body weight or you can get out into nature and see what you can find - lift rocks or logs, do step ups onto a bench, use monkey bars in the park to do pull ups. You are more likely to stick to an exercise programme that you enjoy doing so don't waste your time doing something you hate.

Jo - you're an inspiration and we are sure our customers will see your story as a positive sign that they too, can achieve their goal weight. Keep us posted on your success and we wish you the best of luck!