A mother-of-one who weighed over 18 stone has revealed how she dropped half her bodyweight without the help of weight loss jabs.
Kyra Dawson, 31, from Essex, lost an impressive nine stone after realising her drinking had ‘spiralled out of control’.
The former self-confessed ‘party girl’ said she used to go out ‘nearly every night’ in her twenties, downing bottles of wine with vodka.
She said: ‘At my worst, I was ordering five takeaways a day while hungover. I would eat all day and then start drinking in the evening—and repeat the cycle.’
Ms Dawson would start the day with a greasy full-English breakfast followed by fried chicken and a takeaway pizza for dinner, snacking on sausage rolls and wine throughout the day.
But, after hitting ‘rock-bottom’—having started regularly drinking aged just 15—Ms Dawson knew it was time to change her self-destructive habits, and it was kicking the booze which kick started her enormous transformation.
She said: ‘At first, I didn’t know I had a problem. I just thought I liked going out and partying. But my friends were drinking alcopops and I was having vodka.
‘As soon as I stopped drinking the weight fell off. Then I ditched the obsession with wanting to eat hungover all the time.
At her heaviest, Kyra weighed 18st 5lbs and struggled to fit into a size 18
Kyra dropped an astonishing 9 stone after ditching the takeaways, becoming sober and exercising
Kyra puts her impressive weight loss down to quitting alcohol, eating nutritious protein packed food and doing everything in her power to show up for her son
‘There’s so much sugar in alcohol––as soon as I stopped drinking I lost about four stone.’
Ms Dawson puts her weight and heavy drinking down to her difficult upbringing and losing her adoptive mother, Marie, to cancer-related sepsis in 2018.
She was adopted by her at age 10, after spending her childhood growing up in foster homes.
She said: ‘I lost her the day after my birthday, very suddenly, she died in my arms.
‘It was so painful and made things worse. I partied more, and when I wasn’t drinking, I was ordering takeaways and eating junk food. Anything to help me cope with the loss.’
She added that admitting that she had a problem was the hardest part of the journey.
Ms Dawson began to turn things around when she met her ex-partner in August 2020 and made the decision to give up alcohol and ultra processed foods in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle.
But the real turning point came when she found out she was pregnant with her son, Reo, now three, just five months after she gave up drinking. ‘My little boy arriving save my life,’ she said.
Kyra’s drinking became more intense after her adoptive mother died in 2018
Kyra found out that she was pregnant with her son Reo, now 3, just five months after going sober
Kyra said her son saved her life
‘I wanted to do better for him – make sure he didn’t have the childhood I did. He gave me something to live for and I promised I would be everything he needed.’
Ms Dawson started by changing her diet, swapping ultra processed takeaways and alcohol for more nutrient dense meals whilst maintaining a calorie deficit.
This form of dieting forces the body to burn excess calories stored as fat––a known way of beating the bulge.
Now Ms Dawson starts her day with yoghurt and fruit, followed by a salad for lunch and protein like chicken or fish paired with rice and vegetables for dinner.
She then began going on long walks and dancing, aiming for the recommended 10,000 steps a day and signed up for a gym membership to help keep the weight off.
She added that the mental transformation she experienced had a profound impact on her life, enabling her to reach out for help and reconnect with family and friends.
‘Dancing is like therapy,’ she said. ‘It got me through some dark situations and is a great way to move my body and lose weight. It really helped my mental health too.’
Kyra embarked on a fitness journey after ditching the takeaways, aiming for 10,000 steps a day and signing up for a gym membership
Kyra now wants to remind people that things can always be turned around with the right support
By 2024, Ms Dawson had dropped a colossal nine stone and is now weighs 9st 10lbs.
She is now urging anyone who is struggling with destructive habits such as binge drinking and eating to get help.
She said: ‘Hopefully anyone reading my story will take something positive away from it.
‘With recovery, it’s so important to get into AA. It’s very hard to quit by yourself and I’ve had huge support from that.
‘You can always turn things around with the right support,’ she added.
