Former Love Island contestant Shaughna Phillips has candidly shared her weight loss progress, revealing she’s shed over five stone. The 30-year-old reality star took to Instagram yesterday to shed light on her journey, which she described as more of a ‘rollercoaster’ in the beginning.
Captioning a series of shots taken before, during and after her ‘game-changer’ diet, she told fans: “Some call it a journey, if I’m honest for me it was more of a rollercoaster at the beginning! No quick fix, no fads, just 14 months of a game changer eating plan and short combat workouts. (AND mental strength when times got tough).
“No-one’s inventing the wheel here – you can find information about the science of calorie deficit and the power of interval training on your search engine of choice. But if you’re struggling – like I did for years – to get my head round a way of eating that didn’t send me spinning into cycles of over-eating and restricting then you might want to check out what I did – and follow the experts I finally found to help me.”
Shaughna’s diet, involving a ‘calorie deficit’, simply refers to the process of burning more calories than those consumed. Exercising more and/or eating less is the key to achieving this, with 500-calorie deficit often linked to optimal weight loss.
Calorie restriction is also thought to ‘slow the ageing process’, with longevity experts suggesting that it’s a common practice within the Earth’s rare ‘Blue Zones’. Here, residents are reportedly 10 times more likely to live to 100 than anyone in the United States, thanks to numerous healthy habits.
Dr Deborah Lee, a GP at Dr Fox Pharmacy, previously told the Mirror: “Calorie restriction is believed to slow the ageing process. Eating less lowers the metabolic rate. With less metabolic processes underway, less oxidation is taking place.
Shaugna stressed that you do not have to ‘cut down dramatically’ on eating to lose weight
(Image: Xavi Torrent/Getty Images for SHEIN)
“Oxidative stress probably underpins the development of many of the chronic diseases we see today – heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes and dementia… Nutritionists believe that when you look at your plate, if you eat mindfully, eating slowly and chewing every mouthful thoroughly, you can feel satisfied by eating only 80% of that is on your plate.”
Shaughna’s weight loss achievements come just a year after doctors categorised her as ‘clinically obese’. Committed to overhauling her life, she soon dropped numerous detrimental habits and laid out a strict routine to follow.
In an exclusive interview OK!, she said: “When I really stuck to my diet and nutrition plan, I found myself struggling to finish the meals, but knew that I had to, in order to hit my nutrient goals for the day.
“I realised that your body needs energy, and good food. That was tough, because I think everyone in my generation has been brought up with the mindset that if you want to lose weight, you need to cut down dramatically on eating. From such a young age, I remember trying to skip meals because I wanted to be skinny – I’m really glad that I’ve overcome that now.”