Scots woman spurned on to lose weight after unflattering holiday pics

A woman who says her summer holiday was spoiled by looking at thin women on the beach pushed her to lose four stone and become a personal trainer

Collect of Jules before Ibiza. Picture: SWNS

At her heaviest, Jules Duncan tippled the scales at a whopping 15st 2Ibs after gorging on ham and cheese sandwiches, packets of crisps and chocolate.

The 38-year-old’s weight spiralled out of control as the result of her high carb diet and got even worse when she tried various fad diets which did not work.

Jules has always had a constant battle with her weight but during 2011 she says she felt so ashamed of her body that it ruined a summer break in Ibiza.

Jules Duncan, 38, from Greenock,Scotland, has become a personal trainer after hitting 15 stone on a holiday in Ibiza. Picture: SWNS

The personal trainer, from Greenock, Inverclyde, says she wasn’t confident enough to wear a swimsuit, so she missed out on having fun in the pool with her friends.

But Jules’ fighting spirit has managed to help her shed over four stone leaving her at an outstanding 11st -- despite having knee surgery just last year.

She said: “When I got to Ibiza in 2011 with my friend and husband (Ross), that was the lowest point of my life.

“Being overweight I would be tired all the time and I didn’t have much energy to do anything else, it was so uncomfortable.

“It was just an ongoing struggle and I looked at everything so negatively, I was constantly bloated by the fizzy drinks I was drinking.

“I remember I would watch everyone else in the pool and I didn’t want to take my dress off because I thought everyone would look at me.

“When you are in that environment you think you will become the centre of attention because of your weight but no one cares, however, in your mind you think everyone does.

“When I felt like that, I knew something had to change, it was the big turning point.”

The PT used to wear a size 18 in dress sizes but she now wears a slinky size 10.

Jules, who formerly worked at an insurance company, now runs her own business called ‘The Badass Rules’.

It’s a health and wellbeing programme based at Team Badass Studio in Greenock and online.

At the studio, Jules provides locals with fitness classes, peer support and encouraging women to embrace a most positive mentality.

She added: “I became a PT in 2011 too and I wanted to do something that would help other women who felt like me.

“For me, it’s about loving yourself. The problem is that when we have the idea of a diet we automatically think we need to forget about the junk foods we eat.

“But maybe rather than having a lot of it let’s try and reduce it a bit.

“I ended up throwing my scales out because I do not want to look at the numbers because then I feel like I would criticise myself even more.

“It’s about how good you feel as an individual and eating the right things for your body is part of that.

“I feel amazing now, I have lots of energy. This was my goal -- to feel and look like a badass.”

Jules website can be viewed by going to www.thebadassrules.co.uk

Jules’ daily diet before losing weight:

Breakfast - Cheerios with milk

Lunch - Ham and cheese sandwich and salt and vinegar packet of crisps.

Dinner - Cheese and ham pizza

Snacks - Two packets of crisps, dairy milk chocolate and biscuits Drinks - Up to four cans of diet coke per day. She did not do much physical exercise in her spare time.

After losing weight:

Breakfast - Oats porridge with almonds

Lunch - Prawns, rice and veg

Dinner - Salmon and sweet potato

Snacks in between meals: fruit Throughout the day she drinks two litres of water and does up to two hours of exercise.