A woman who used to consume 2,500 calories in one meal alone has lost more than seven stone after removing bread, pizza and nachos from her diet.
Before losing weight, Kristina Guice, 25, from Tucson in Arizona, USA, would overload on carbs daily and weighed close to 18 stone (250lbs).
After switching schools in her childhood, she struggled to find friends and began burying her feelings beneath carbohydrate-rich foods.
Two years ago, Kristina decided to overhaul her lifestyle and slim down before starting her Masters degree in Forensic Linguistics.
She downloaded a calorie counting app and, after drastically shrinking her carb consumption, lost over seven stone (102lb).
She hit her lowest weight of 10 stone 8lbs last month after adding exercise to the mix and is now loving life having graduated from Hofstra University, New York.
Kristina said that growing up, food provided her with “comfort”, and by the time she left high school she was 60lbs heavier than when she’d started.
“I started off being the ‘chubby kid’ when I was six, when we moved states I went from being active with lots of friends, to more lazy and inactive,” she explained.
“Being the ‘new kid’ I couldn’t socialise as much, so I had a lot of time to myself where I was just comfort eating.
“I once did a calorie count of one Taco Bell order, it was over 2,500 calories. I would have two taco supremes, two chicken chalupas, a chicken quesadilla, a seven layer burrito and an extra-large Mountain Dew.
“I didn’t enjoy being overweight through high school or college, it all just clicked and I knew I needed to make a change.
“I realised that while I loved bread, I didn’t love being fat.”
The 25-year-old downloaded a food diary app and cut out carbs from her diet.
“I was done with them, no bread, pasta, chips, rice and that’s what I did for two and a half years,” she explained.
“At first it was tough, I missed pizzas, nachos and bread, but keto uses substitute carbs which are quite nice.
“I started making pizza crust out of cauliflower dough and other changes, then suddenly I stopped wanting them so much.
“Now the idea of eating bread is so boring, it’s just a waste, it doesn’t appeal to me anymore.”
Since embarking on her weight loss journey, Kristina has lost almost seven stone.
Where previously she would eat a large bowl of Corn Pops for breakfast and snack on tortilla chips mid-morning, she now has iced coffee with hardboiled eggs.
Her carb-filled lunches of supreme pizza have been replaced with healthy, low-carb wraps and her calorie-laden evening meals swapped for chicken thighs with salad.
If she has dessert, it will be sugar-free jelly with homemade whipped cream.
“I feel really proud that I did it,” she said. “Looking back at pictures of myself now is like seeing a different person.”