A mother who weighed 21st 12lbs has lost 10 stone after adopting two strict rules: cutting out sugar completely and eating only between midday and 7pm. Eirini Tsepouni, 31, from Hemel Hempstead, said she transformed her lifestyle after struggling to play with her one-year-old daughter Leila due to intense knee pain.
From Haribo binges to a new lifestyle
Eirini reached her heaviest weight after being furloughed from her waitressing job during the Covid-19 pandemic. She would spend days at home “eating and watching movies,” often consuming Haribo sweets and other snacks during movie marathons. She told SWNS: “At some point I realised I’d gained weight because I saw stretch marks on my belly. The weird thing is I couldn’t understand the situation and it took me years to realise what was wrong. I was seeing a different person in the mirror than other people could see in real life.”
The turning point came when her daughter began sitting up. “I wanted to sit with her on the floor and I realised my knees were hurting a lot. They were hurting to the stage I couldn’t keep them crossed together and I had to keep them straight. The second thing that’s horrible as well is the fact I had to think twice for a plan of how I’m going to get up from the floor.”
Two strict rules: no sugar and time-restricted eating
In December 2024, Eirini overhauled her diet. She cut out “rubbish food” like crisps, cakes, and chocolates from her weekly shops, replacing them with eggs, meat, salad, and fruit. She eliminated sugar for six months and restricted her eating to between 12pm and 7pm each day. “What I realised was I was feeling more energetic without sugar. My skin was glowing and I did lose weight faster,” she said.
Her new daily routine starts with a morning coffee. Lunch is often a tuna or steak salad, followed by fruit a few hours later. Dinner consists of “finger foods” like a snack plate of cucumber, cheese, turkey, croutons, and olives. She stops eating by 6 or 7pm and does not eat again until around 12 or 1pm the next day. “I don’t want to see it as a diet I want to see it as a life-changing habit. At the end of the day your body is a car, would you put crappy fuel in a car?” she said.
Dramatic weight loss and newfound confidence
Eirini now weighs 11st 13lbs and has bought white jeans in a size 12 for the “first time.” She said: “The big big big difference was after a year and I started dropping in size and I could wear jeans and jeggings – I started feeling more confident.” She also walks more than 10,000 steps a day, taking Leila to the park and walking around the city centre.
Reflecting on her journey, she said: “I don’t want my daughter to grow up seeing me with snacks in my hand all the time. I don’t want her to go through what I went through being fat, only wearing black leggings and not knowing what jeans were or trying to find chair wherever I’d go without arms either side so I could sit in them comfortably. Being overweight I needed a plan to live. I needed a plan to go to the theatre, to the cinema because I didn’t know if I’d fit in the chair. There are so many embarrassing moments but they didn’t shake me up. Having my daughter woke me up.”
She added: “Honestly I feel more beautiful than ever and stronger than ever. I don’t feel pain anymore. I won’t think twice about standing up to do something. I feel like life has started now.”
