'It's not lipo': Mum who lost six stone in a year keeps being asked the 'secret'

As Carla Fishwick approached her 40th birthday she knew she wanted to shape up and lose weight but always felt "too lazy" to do anything about it.

She had tried "millions of diets" over the years but never found anything she could stick to with a busy life running her own hairdressing business and being a mum-of-one.

But as she scrolled through Instagram she was struck by the transformations on the page of an online coach and decided to give it a try for herself.

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She signed up for an initial six weeks on the Francis Diet, which gave her access to a personalised calorie and nutrient-controlled diet. She was also given a tailored fitness plan with workouts devised by trainer Scott Francis that she could do at home.

She says that within three weeks of starting in February 2022 she had already dropped a stone. It made her realise exactly what she could achieve if she put her mind to it.

Sticking to the plan, and learning to make a complete "lifestyle change" she has gone on to drop an incredible six stone and 9lbs in a year. Carla, from Wilmslow, has slimmed from a size 16 to a petite size 6/8 and now regularly shares her OWN transformation pictures on her Instagram page.

Now 41, Carla hopes that by sharing her own journey she can inspire others, like her, who have felt they can't lose weight. She has shared photos in her bikinis at each step of the way to show how she gradually slimmed from 14stone 8lb at her heaviest, down to her weight now of 7stone 13lb.

Carla laughs: "My husband says 'why are you putting all those pictures on Instagram'. But I say to him it's because I want to really show other people that if I can do it, they can do it too.

"I