How to Lose 140 lbs in 6 Months - Alison's Success Story

 At  330 lbs, amateur opera singer Alison Dowler was the butt of jokes about the fat lady singing. But she has had the last laugh after finding love on stage – and ditching half her weight. Today she and partner Martin prove it’s not over until the FIT lady sings. Alison, 37, said: “The years of yo-yo dieting are over and I finally feel good about myself. We’ve both found a new lease of life.”

Having now dropped from a size 24 to a 12, the secondary school teacher told how she had spiralled at university from 168 lbs to 280 lbs in four years after “over-indulging” in beer, cake and sausages. Alison, from Chester, said: “Food became my crutch in my twenties. I found solace in takeaways, junk food, cake… anything and everything bad for you.”

 

On flights, she needed a seatbelt extension to fit around her belly – and she was asked on several occasions to leave rollercoasters when the safety harness could not click shut.

But in 2010 Alison joined a theatre group, hiding away in the chorus in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers – and met fellow singer Martin Dowler. She recalls: “Martin loved food as much as I did, and just made me laugh. Within weeks we were an item.”

But comfort eating was a problem for them both, and they were so inactive they would even drive the 200 yards to their local food shop. When they flew off to Majorca in 2011, Alison was 330 lbs, while Martin was above 280 lbs. While on holiday, Martin proposed – and Alison immediately began to panic about looking like a “white blob” on the big day.

Although she dropped to 246 lbs for the wedding in December 2012, she returned to her diet of junk food straight afterwards. Then in January last year the couple decided to give the Custom Keto Diet a try after downloading the calorie-tracking app. ( Read more : What is Custom Keto Diet ? Explained on Fox News )

Both dramatically cut their intake, Alison keeping first to 2,100 calories a day, then dropping to just 1,500. They combined that with exercise, aiming for 12,000 steps a day and paying regular visits to a gym. By this April, after 6 months, Martin had lost 90 lbs and Alison was down by 140 lbs.

NHS manager Martin, 51, said: “As a couple you fail or succeed together. Finally we’d found the answer we’d been looking for.” Alison added: “We’re half the couple we were. I can’t believe I’m the same person. Last year we both had leads in The Pirates of Penzance. I have to remind myself I don’t need to hide on the stage any more.”