Potatoes are often seen as off-limits for weight loss – but a size 16 office worker has revealed how she shed 27 kilos without cutting out carbs.
Brittany McCrystal, from New Zealand, led a sedentary lifestyle as a travel agent, working behind a desk, living off takeaway meals every day and enjoying alcohol.
The then 23-year-old found a realistic way to slim down to a size six to eight after overhauling her lifestyle.
Remarkably, she was able to enjoy her favourite foods – including bread, pasta and even kebabs – while shedding the stubborn weight in less than a year.
She credits the 80/20 rule for her svelte physique, where she eats 80 per cent whole, nutrient-dense foods and leaves 20 per cent room for indulgences, within reason.
‘People are always shocked when I tell them I ate carbs the entire time I was losing weight,’ Brittany, now 30, said in an Instagram post.
‘I didn’t gain weight because of potatoes. I ate sourdough. I ate fruit. I ate rice. I ate pasta. I even had honey and maple syrup.
‘The reason I lost weight wasn’t because I cut carbs. It was because I got into a calorie deficit and stayed there consistently.
‘Most people aren’t overeating because of rice or pasta. They’re overeating because of all the little extras that don’t seem like much at the time.’
Brittany McCrystal has revealed how she went from a size 16 to a size 6 in just nine months
The fitness coach pointed out that many people mistakenly blame potatoes when the numbers on the scale refuse to move.
‘I think that’s why so many women get frustrated,’ she said.
‘They’re cutting out bread, saying no to pasta, skipping carbs at dinner… but they’re still not seeing results. Because they’re focusing on the wrong thing.
‘Carbs were never the problem for me.’
Brittany said successful weight loss comes down to building balanced meals, eating enough protein and paying attention to overall calorie intake.
‘This is your reminder that you don’t need to break up with bread to see results,’ she said.
Before her weight loss, she said she couldn’t walk down the street without being out of breath and she was constantly ‘sick and tired’ of looking at herself in the mirror.
‘It was the hardest time of my life and I struggled every day,’ Brittany previously told Daily Mail.
She credits the 80/20 rule for her svelte physique, where she eats 80 per cent whole, nutrient-dense foods and leaves 20 per cent room for indulgences, within reason
She tried everything to lose weight including fad diets, shakes, pills and juice cleanses but those only made her relationship with food worse.
Working in an office didn’t help with her lifestyle either.
‘My lifestyle was really bad,’ she said.
‘I worked a desk job, I wasn’t getting much movement and I relied heavily on takeaway meals… I ate out every day and I also drank a lot, which did not help.’
She started looking for ways to lose weight but would find herself falling into the ‘fad diet trap’.
‘It ruined my relationship with food,’ she said.
‘While I was attempting the keto diet, it made me think that carbs and sugar were the enemy and made me afraid of eating all the foods that I loved.’
Brittany watched as her weight began dropping off, leaving her at her lightest weight of 54kg, but she was still ‘miserable’.
Her homecooked meals are constantly changing because she doesn’t enjoy eating the same foods, but she always makes sure they are delicious and never boring
Her lifestyle changes included walking 10,000 steps a day and following the 80/20 rule
‘I learned that your smallest self won’t necessarily be your happiest or healthiest self. For so long, I strived for the lowest number on the scale,’ she said.
‘I had never disliked my body more. It caused me to ruin my past relationship, lose my period and my hair started falling out. It was because I was solely focused on the outcome rather than the journey and the life that I was gaining.
‘The real stinger was that after I dropped that low, I gained about 10kg of it back within the first two months.’
During her 2018 weight loss journey, she realised there were no ‘quick fixes’ or ‘magic pills’.
For Brittany, losing weight and keeping it off for good came down to making a lasting lifestyle change.
‘I’ve learnt that you can eat all the foods you love and still see results, you just need to be smarter with your choices and make small adjustments. I let myself eat the foods I want, along with the foods I know my body needs,’ she said.
As an avid cook and ‘foodie’, Brittany started getting ‘creative’ in the kitchen.
‘I started making small swaps to my favourite ingredients,’ she said.
‘Then it clicked that I could make these small adjustments to my meals – make them lower in calories and higher in protein – so I could make them work for me and my weight loss goals.’
Brittany said she stopped listening to the ‘toxic diet culture’ and just focused on what was actually working for her and what made her ‘feel good’
She began walking 10,000 steps a day and tweaking her diet.
‘I didn’t step foot into a gym until I had lost about 10kg of the weight,’ she said.
‘It all came down to moving more and being in a calorie deficit. I made changes like swapping full sugar Coke to sugar-free low calorie options.’
She started incorporating ‘volume’ foods into her diet to help her feel full while staying on track with her goals.
‘Volume foods are foods that are lower in calories but higher in volume so you can actually eat more on your weight loss journey,’ she said.
‘You’d be shocked to see how much more food you can eat and not feel hungry – but still see the results you want.’
Brittany said she stopped listening to the ‘toxic diet culture’ and just focused on what was actually working for her and what made her ‘feel good’.
‘I ended up losing 20kg in nine months. I then maintained that for a while, I started building muscle and then lost the rest afterwards,’ she said.
For those struggling to lose weight, Brittany said: ‘Please don’t give up on your goals, you are worthy no matter what size you are.
‘As long as you are happy at the end of the day that’s all that matters, but I promise that if you never give up on your health journey, it’s impossible to fail.
‘Yes, it takes time but it’s so worth it.’
Brittany’s homemade ‘fakeaway’ of McDonald’s McChicken burger
295 cals per burger | 43g protein | Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
400g lean ground chicken
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne (optional)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup corn flakes – blended
Low-calorie high protein burger buns (better buns)
1 tbsp light mayo per burger
Lettuce for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a bowl, mix the lean ground chicken with half of all the spices (mustard, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper).
2. Form the mixture into 4 patties.
3. Mix the remaining spices with the cornflake mixture
4. Coat each patty in the cornflake mixture.
5. Place the patties in an air fryer and spray lightly with cooking spray.
6. Cook at 180 degrees for 10 minutes
7. Assemble the burgers with the low-calorie buns, light mayo, chicken and lettuce.
