You may have seen her a bit in the press recently, and there’s a reason why Kristy’s amazing transformation, with the help of Muscle Food, is important to so many people…

It’s a story some of us connect with, but many of them stay silent about – she fought a long struggle with anxiety and depression, thinking suicidal thoughts and eating to the point of being clinically obese.

During her sessions with a psychologist, she quickly learnt that looking after yourself physically is intrinsically linked to transforming your mental health. With that in mind, she begun to take a home course to become a diet and nutrition advisor.

Noticing the little changes she can make to her life in losing weight, she quickly learnt to cook tasty food for her whole family. And after 6 months, she lost a massive 6 stone.

Now, being bitten by the gym bug and loving good nutrition, she is working towards her dream of competing.

Training Plan

I don’t currently have a scheduled training plan due to working from home and looking after my son, around my partner’s shift work.

This is something I am working on, especially as my partner has started getting more involved with what I do. I work out most days rotating each day between abs, legs, arms and back, involving 1 day cardio (usually my local boot camp every Tuesday).

Meal Plan

I repeat my meals most days, I like consistency. On an average day my intake would be-

Interview with Kristy Sadler

Hi Kristy! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. So can you tell us the full story of your transformation from June 2015 to now?

I am a 27-year-old mum from Essex.

I started my transformation in June 2015, following a long struggle with depression, anxiety and eventually agoraphobia. My partner and I agreed that I should see a psychologist at my home.

Before these sessions, I felt like I couldn't cope with the smallest of tasks and I would have, what I now know as "triggers", that would get so out of control, that I had suicidal thoughts on a daily basis.

During my sessions, it became clear to me that I had to start looking after myself and little did I realise that overtime this would have the greatest impact on transforming my mental health, as well as physical health.

I took on a home course to become a diet and nutrition adviser (while still clinically "obese") and while I was learning about the stress my body was under and the risks that were involved in being so overweight, I made little changes every day to try become a healthy weight.

I had something to focus on.

As time went on, each day became exciting, I was losing weight, cooking beautiful and tasty foods for my family, my energy levels were increasing and I felt the dark clouds that were over each day begin to disappear.

I wasn't afraid anymore, instead, I was excited for the future.

Fast forward to now and I have lost around 5 stone, I qualified as a diet and nutrition adviser, I finished my counselling sessions and I now create nutritional plans for others. I have been fully booked twice during the past 6 months and I am currently working with 8 amazing people who have lost a combined weight of almost 12 stone so far (17 stone, including myself).

I have had some very dark days, but if it has shown me one thing, it is that I am not a quitter. There is a fire inside all of us and it's down to us to create our own tools to ignite it. I wouldn't change anything in my past, because it has taken me right where I needed to be.

What is clear with your story is that rather than just being all about the physical urge to transform, this felt like a psychological need to do so. How did it feel to struggle with depression, anxiety and agoraphobia?

Suffocating. That is the only way to describe what was going on inside my mind. I was scared of everything, including myself.

I was on the edge every, single day and had no idea what was going to happen. I hid it from those I was close to, except my partner, because I didn’t know how to explain it and I didn’t want to cry in front of them.

What made you decide that “enough was enough” and start making the change?

I remember the day I decided to take control of my body. It had been in a particularly deep session and my counsellor had previously asked me to ask my friends and family what they loved about me.

The answers were things like my smile, my eyes, my sense of humour and I think one was even that I always smelt good! During that session, I had made it clear that I thought those people were just saying nice things to be polite or that they didn’t know what else to say.

At the end of the session I was asked to pick a random “Angel card”, just to finish on something positive and the card I pulled was “Raising your standards”. My counsellor gave me homework to think about that card and what it meant to me.

I came to the conclusion that I needed to make drastic changes to start looking after my body and learn how to love myself.

I created my motivation. Most days the buzz of seeing the number drop on the scales, measurements decrease or clothes getting too big was enough, but that doesn’t happen every day. The truth is you have to create your own motivation.

Take time to find out what gets you excited. Some think that the motivational quotes are cheesy but some days they work for me; other days I look for new food recipes or look at other people’s transformations. I love sharing my progress and taking before/ after pictures. I think inspiring other’s is a huge motivator for me.

And fast forward to now (congratulations for losing around 5 stone)! How did this weight loss journey affect your psychological issues?

That’s the thing for me, I can show my physical progress, but one of the best things has been my psychological progress, which can’t be seen in photos.

It felt like a huge weight was lifted from my mind, I appreciate things like food, the weather, just stuff that I simply didn’t care about before. I was unpredictable and every day was filled with worrying about what was going to happen.

Now, I have so much more time to take in what is around me and I look forward to learning new things.

After going through SO much to rebuild yourself, what has encouraged you to turn to weight lifting?

I have a very good friend who is a regular at the gym and really it was him who inspired me to take on weights. I didn’t listen to him at first, but to be honest I wasn’t ready to take on the next steps as it was daunting.

As time progressed, I learnt more and I could finally appreciate the benefits of weight lifting and some days it’s pretty much all I think about. I love it!

Any words of advice to people interested in going for the same competitions as you?

Well I am nowhere near the level of competing; it is a dream of mine.

However, seeing the progress I have made in the past year and what I know I am capable of when I put my mind to it, I’d say bring it on!

I am so inspired by any kind of body building competitors… I know I can turn that inspiration into fuel, so I’d probably say thank you too!

Let’s talk fitness! What has been your most difficult challenge in the gym?

Well first off, walking into one. I felt really uncomfortable picking up the weights at first and just used the running machine, until most people had left. Now days I tend to do my workouts at home, purely because of my work and looking after my 2-year-old son.

I have dumbbells, barbells, a door bar and a multi gym at home. I did join a local boot camp once a week, that was one of my main aims when struggling with agoraphobia, I wanted to eventually join a class/ group. For someone who couldn’t leave the house, that was pretty difficult.

What is your favourite exercise?

Anything that works my abs, because I can notice such a huge difference in a short period of time, but I also love working biceps, probably for the same reason (I don’t skip legs though!).

And what’s the one you hate the most?

I don’t hate any exercise really, well maybe burpees. I struggle with squats, purely because I have such weak legs. They are getting stronger (I couldn’t even do one squat when I started).

What’s your favourite body part?

My arms. I used to hate my arms and shoulders because they were so round and that was one of the last places that I lost the weight.

I never thought I’d love my arms, but I started to feel my muscles develop, saw some definition and I then received a compliment from a body builder I met on a night out, who said that I had great definition considering how long I’d been going and I was like “Yes, yes I do!” Obviously, I thanked him and walked away with a big grin.

Let’s talk food! If we were to raid your fridge right now, what would we see?

Loads of salad greens, veggies and berries, bacon, about 30 eggs, some mackerel, tubs of cottage cheese, plain yogurt and jars of pickled foods (I’m going through a pickle phase!). My freezer is full of minces, chicken, steaks, frozen berries and some veggies.

My cupboards are 50% peanut butter, some tinned fish, brown rice, beans, protein powder and a few other essentials.

Any Muscle Food favourites?

Chicken sausages, I seriously love the chicken sausages. Any of the peanut butter tubs, the hache steaks are pretty darn good too!

Everybody is allowed a cheat meal every now and again… What’s your favourite?

I don’t really have cheat meals to be honest, just some days where I eat more peanut butter than my macros will allow… and I’m not even sorry!

Were there any particular foods/snacks you found it hard to give up?

No not really. I haven’t given up anything totally, I just eat to fuel my body now and I actually enjoy my food a lot more!

I found it hard dealing with people offering me rubbish foods, with some kind of negative comment about dieting. I learned to explain that I wasn’t dieting, I was eating foods that suited my lifestyle.

RANDOM QUICK FIRE! Favourite film?

Oh, crikey! I’m a sucker for Gone with the Wind… is that weird?

Favourite music to listen to while working out?

Foxy Shazam, in particular “Unstoppable”.

Would you rather go about your normal day naked or fall asleep for a year?

Wow, that’s random! I’d go about my normal day naked as I hate being in bed for too long.

Anyway! Back to the regular stuff. What are your plans for the future?

I would like to get to a standard to compete. I know I have a long way to go, but if someone showed me a picture last year of where I am now, I would never believe it, so you never know.

I will continue to learn, to expand my knowledge and try to be the best version of myself. I really want to make my family proud, especially my little boy.

And finally, do you have any advice for people who are looking to transform?

My advice would be to start with your food, to take each day as it comes and be inspired by others but don’t try to be like anyone else.

There are a lot of days where you are on your own in your transformation, so make each day count and develop at your own rate. Some days you will lose your motivation and it’s those days that really matter, those are the days that big changes are made, so grind!

If you think you can’t do it, then you won’t do it and finally, if an obese, agoraphobic person on the brink of suicide can turn her life around, then anyone can!

Every transformation story featured on Muscle Food outlines that a good diet and a good workout plan are essential to achieving the results you desire. All transformation stories, exercise routines and diet plans are provided by the customer and have not been checked by a nutritionist or doctor. Results may vary for different individuals.