This is the incredible transformation of a young woman who lost a whopping 16 and a half stone, completely changing her image.
Losing a few pounds here and there is hard enough, but over 16 stone? That’s like losing an entire person.
23-year-old, Alexandra Osipova, decided she had to drastically change her life three years ago, when she stepped on the scales and saw she weighed an incredible 162kg (25.5 stone).
Alexandra says she never suffered from low self-esteem because of her weight, but became scared about the possible health implications when she saw the figure on the scales.
She told local media she used to be a skinny kid until the age of four, saying:
I was growing up in an atmosphere of love and care, no one would ever say no to me. I ate all I wanted to, cakes, sweets. My mom and I could easily share an entire cake in just one sitting.
Alexandra says her entire family are overweight and therefore, for her, it was always just the norm, something that was accepted and alternatives were never really considered.
At the age of 15, she’d already reached a weight of 100kg (16 stone) but was not scared to show off her body.
She said:
My friends were surprised with what I was wearing. I didn’tt shy away from wearing transparent or tight things. For example, I had leopard leggings, like in the best anecdotes about fat ladies.
However, Alexandra says she began to realise the negative implications of her image when her friends started receiving attention from boys, who would never ask her out, instead telling her she was a nice person.
Alexandra continued:
I knew I was large but I didn’t realise how large.
It wasn’t until university she realised what an impediment her weight had become. While attending classes and lectures, Alexandra realised she couldn’t sit at some of the desks as they pushed into her stomach and caused her a lot of pain.
Alexandra says this is when she first decided to challenge herself to lose 10 kg (1.6 stone) by doing sports and living a more healthy lifestyle. She says the weight fell off, and as she enjoyed working out and feeling healthy so much, she simply carried on.
These days she runs about 8km (5 miles) per day followed by a two-hour cardio workout.
The determined young woman shed a total of 105 kg (16.5 stone) over a three-year-period, completely transforming herself.
Even though Alexandra currently weights about 60 kg (9.4 stone) she says she wouldn’t mind losing even more weight.
However, one of her aims now is to have cosmetic surgery to get rid of the excess skin she has after the weight loss. In the future, Alexandra says her goal is to become a fitness instructor.
Like any challenge you set yourself, it just goes to show what hard work, determination and commitment can do.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.