Woman’s 5st weight loss – thanks to eating MORE pizza and pasta

MOST people think that when you’re trying to lose weight pizza and pasta are completely off the menu.

But Samantha Frigo has proven that you can still shed an impressive amount of weight – while munching on the carby Italian delicacies.

The pub manager has dropped an impressive five stone by changing her diet to include pizza and pasta – after ballooning to 15 stone.

Samantha first realised something desperately needed to change when she started her full-time job as a pub manager, and began prioritising her work over her health.

She said: “I manage a pub where all my meals are for free, so it was cheaper and easier to just eat from there – that wasn’t such a good idea.”

And after gorging on a pub meal for lunch every day, she would then pick up “deep fried foods and takeaway” for dinner on her way home from her shift.

She added: “I didn’t eat vegetables, fruit or drink water.

“I wasn’t exercising at all and when I wasn’t at work, I was sleeping or lying in bed.

“I always felt exhausted no matter how much sleep I had.

“I felt quite lethargic a lot of the time, and I felt like I was lacking in energy and was always in a terrible mood.”

Samantha soon realised she was tipping the scales at nearly 15 stone.

And as the weight continued to pile on, her mood and self-confidence began to plummet.

She said: “I lost all self-confidence and felt horrible about myself. I didn’t want to go out, I dreaded summer, I wouldn’t go swimming and didn’t like getting in photos.”

It was during this moment in Samantha’s life when she decided she wanted to take charge of her health and turn her life around.

And in just nine months, she has become the happiest and healthiest version of herself after dropping five stone.

The first thing Samantha did was cut out fizzy drinks, decrease her portion sizes and ditch all the junk food from the cupboards in her kitchen.

And she signed up to Lite n Easy’s 1,200 calorie meal plan, which meant Samantha could eat pasta and/or pizza nearly every day.

She said: “During the first week or so it was a bit challenging going from eating so much food to eating smaller portions.

I lost all self-confidence and felt horrible about myself. I didn’t want to go out, I dreaded summer, I wouldn’t go swimming and didn’t like getting in photos

Samantha Frigo

“I swapped soft drink for water and started eating foods that I never would have thought about eating. I learnt to limit myself on foods and tried to keep minimal junk food in the house so that I wasn’t tempted.”

Samantha powered through her “Diet Coke withdrawals” as soon as she noticed the weight falling off after the first week.

She added: “Within the first week or so I felt so much better, I stopped napping and didn’t feel sick anymore.

“Straight away I started to lose a lot of weight, so it made it easier to stick to knowing how well it was working.”

Samantha then increased her calorie intake to 1,500 as she began exercising and hitting the gym at least five times a week.

Speaking about her new workout regime, she said: “I do around three to four high intensity classes and around three to four weight sessions a week.”

Despite her impressive new physique, Samantha admits she still struggles some days with resisting unhealthy foods.

She said: “My biggest challenge still to this day is resisting or saying no to food.

“At both work and home I am constantly tempted with foods that are very hard to resist.”

To combat her cravings, Samantha makes sure she doesn’t completely deprive herself from treats but makes sure to have smaller portions of them.

However, some days she admits to falling off the wagon, saying: “Some days I would feel like a treat and then go on to demolish any and every food in sight with the mindset of ‘well, I’ve already broken my healthy eating for the day’.”

Samantha is hoping that other people will be inspired to follow in her footsteps by sharing her story.

And she is keen to remind other dieters trying to lose weight that it all comes down to balance.

She said: “Don’t go all out with crazy diets. I keep myself to five days a week Lite n’ Easy with a snack here and there on most days, and on my days off I go out for dinner or let loose a little bit.

“If I was to be 100 per cent strict with dieting seven days a week, there is no way I would have been able to stick to it. It’s more a lifestyle change than a diet.”

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