Halstead mum ditches her £800 a month takeaways to lose weight

Lillie Monro, 24, always struggled with her weight and would often have a takeaway burger for breakfast - as well as fast food for lunch and dinner.

Her habit saw her reach 21 stones just before daughter Mila, two, was born, and a doctor warned the new mum she might not see her baby grow up.

Weighing 19st 1lb, and with her newborn baby in her arms, she pledged to change, and swapped her takeaways for salads and gave up the sweets.

She lost seven stones in a year, going from a size 24 to a 10-12 and now weighs a healthy 12 stones.

She no longer spends up to £200 a week on fast food, her food bills have halved, and she can climb the stairs without getting out of breath.

Lillie, an MoT, service and repairs advisor from Halstead, said: “I literally lost a whole person worth of weight.

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“My GP told me I wouldn’t see my daughter grow up, so I knew I had to make rapid changes.

“I don’t think I’d have been able to do it if she hadn’t said that and I didn’t have Mila.

“I really enjoy just playing with her now - I wasn’t able to do that before.”

She added: “I didn’t do any exercise, just Slimming World. I actually really enjoyed it. I could still eat really big portions.

“I just changed the amounts of different foods, so I was eating more of the right things and less of others and cooked from scratch.

“At first I thought of it as a diet, but actually it’s a lifestyle change and that’s why it’s still working.”

Lillie’s experience has been similar to that of Atomic Kitten star Kerry Katona who recently shared that her family had lived on takeaways for six months.

Lillie Monro after her weightloss. See SWNS story SWTPloss. A new mum lost seven stone after she ditched her up to £800 a month fast food habit when doctors said she might not live to see her daughter grow up. Lillie Monro, 24, always struggled

Katona spoke out about how she hadn’t cooked for her children for half a year in an exclusive chat ahead of new C4 show Celebrity Trash Monsters: What’s Your Waste Size.

Comparing herself to the former popstar, Lillie said: “I lived on takeout like Kerry Katona and I was equally mortified when I realised this was the example I was setting for my child.

“If I’d had to wear a suit made from our household rubbish like Kerry did, it would have been made of pizza boxes and burger packets - that would have felt so humiliating.

“It’s easy to feel shamed by your fast-food habits, like Kerry and I did, but actually fast food is very addictive and it’s everywhere: promising you an easy life.

“It’s not good for you though, and cooking is really fun as well as so much better for you.”

Inspiration - Lillie with baby Mila Monro after her weightloss. See SWNS story SWTPloss. A new mum lost seven stone after she ditched her up to £800 a month fast food habit when doctors said she might not live to see her daughter grow up.

As a 17 stone teenager, Lillie said she didn’t like to go shopping with her friends.

She went to her GP and was given medication for depression and anxiety, when Mila was three months old in May 2019.

The doctor told the mum her weight put her at risk of diabetes, heart failure and other health risks, and she might not see her baby grow up, she said.

New-mum Lillie had feared losing little Mila when she was taken into neonatal intensive care with suspected sepsis just hours after being born, she said.

“You don’t expect your doctor to tell you you’re going to pop your clogs, but I’m so glad she did”, said Lillie. “That was my wake-up call.

“I went home from the GP and cried my eyes out then decided to make changes.

“I knew I was big, I’d always eaten badly, but when she said it I looked and was surprised at how big I’d got.

“I craved junk food all the time - and you’re always hungry after eating it so you have more.

Lillie got down to 12 stone in a year, and has maintained that weight ever since, she said.

She added: “I don’t think I’d have been able to do this if it wasn’t for Mila.”