'I lost nine stone after giving up on one unhealthy daily habit - I'm unrecognisable'

A secret eater who scoffed five McDonalds a day is unrecognisable after losing nine stone - and having 10lbs of saggy skin cut off in a operation. Jillian Champ, 24, developed a binge eating disorder aged 15 and would devour multiple McDonalds breakfasts, a box of doughnuts and takeaways nearly every day for years.

She started hiding empty wrappers from her fiancé, Houmin Khanehzarrin, 25, out of shame. By the time she was 20, her weight had doubled - reaching 20 stone and a XXXXL - and she hid from all cameras.

But one night reality hit when she glanced at herself in the mirror and vowed to change. She cut her portion sizes, started learning about nutrition and took up exercise.

By June 2023, Jillian slimmed down to 11st 2lbs and a small - after losing almost half her body weight - and lost a final 10lbs by getting excess skin removal surgery that month. Now she is "always snapping new pictures" of herself because her confidence is sky-high - and even works as a weight consultant to help others feel the same.

Jillian said: "Growing up, I thought I was fat even when I wasn't because I had a bad relationship with food. When I developed the binge eating disorder, I literally couldn't stop eating.

"I felt terrible about it and I hated being obese but I didn't know how to stop. One night I saw my stomach hanging over my shirt - and I thought 'I can't believe I've done this to myself'.

"I began losing weight but it wasn't always easy - I remember sitting and crying that it's 'too hard'. But seeing the number on the scale drop showed me I could do it, so I kept going.

"Looking back, I never thought I could stick to it but I'm so happy I did." Jillian found herself struggling with overeating in her teenage years and began gaining weight.

Jillian would scoff McDonald's, a whole box of doughnuts or two main meals from IHOP in the day - consuming up to 5,000 calories - while Houmin was at work as a mechanic and hide the evidence. As her weight continued to rise she became less confident - hiding from the camera and avoiding family photos.

Jillian said: "I couldn't stand for longer than 30 minutes when I was at my heaviest - and I was so overweight I could barely move. I had back problems and constant foot pain - I would even dread getting up off the couch just to go to the toilet."

But one trip to the toilet in the middle of the night in November 2021 changed everything. She said: "I went to the restroom in the night and saw my stomach hanging over my shirt.

"I thought 'oh my God, I can't believe I've done this to myself'. I had tried off-and-on to lose weight, but I couldn't stick to it.

"I told myself then I'd give weight loss one more try." That same month she learnt the key was to eat less calories than she burned.

She tried to make meals high in protein and volume to keep her feeling full, but low in calories - and found she could replicate many of her favourite meals in healthier forms. In the first two weeks she lost 13lbs - and within a year she had shed 7st 2lbs.

She said: "The first four months was an extremely hard adjustment, I remember sitting and crying. But I just kept going."

As she became more mobile she began introducing exercise such as aqua aerobics and mountain hiking into her daily routines. She then lost another 1st 6lbs - but didn't feel confident because of the excess skin.

She said: "I still had a hanging stomach and arms, so I felt like I looked like a deflated version of myself." She saved up and was gifted some money from her dad, David Champ, 56, and fiancé, then had 10lbs of loose skin removed in surgery.

Since then she has maintained her size small frame - and is happier than ever. She added: "Starting my weight loss journey, I knew I was getting married and I didn't want to look back on my wedding photos and hate them.

"I might lose a bit more weight before the wedding in September 2024 yet but I'm pretty satisfied with where I am now. Now, I look in the mirror and I smile and think nice things about myself.

"I'll never go back to the way I was before."

Diet before:

• Breakfast - 5 breakfast sandwiches from McDonalds, 5 hashbrowns, 1 large caramel coffee

• Lunch - 5-6 donuts

• Dinner - 20 pc chicken nugget, large fry, large Coke

• Snacks - cupcakes

• Drinks - sugary coffees, sodas, juice

Diet after:

• Breakfast - large iced coffee with soy milk, cinnamon, and sugar free syrup

• Lunch - Salad with chicken, strawberries, nuts, and sugar free salad dressing. Greek yogurt, and a Coke zero

• Dinner - low calorie high volume chicken or shrimp tacos

• Snacks - sugar-free pudding, non-fat Greek yogurt, or fruit.

• Drinks - sugar free sodas, sugar free teas, sugar free lattes.