A mother-of-two stunned family and friends at her daughter’s wedding after losing 55 kilos in the space of a year.
Simone Daglis tipped the scales at 126kg before starting her weight loss journey with husband George, 57, after he suffered a health scare in 2017.
On the day of her daughter’s wedding in September 2018, the 53-year-old from The Ponds in northwest Sydney said she was ‘unrecognisable’ to almost every relative – including her own mother – which is something she’ll never forget.
‘The priest escorted me to the front next to my mother, and when I sat down the first thing that came out of her mouth was “I didn’t even know it was you”,’ Ms Daglis told Daily Mail Australia.
During her 12-month transformation, Ms Daglis dropped from a size 24 to 26 to a trim size eight to ten by swapping gargantuan servings for portion-controlled meals and walking seven kilometres a day.
Now THAT’S a transformation: Australian mother-of-two Simone Daglis (left with husband George) stunned family and friends at her daughter’s wedding (where she is pictured, right) after dropping 55kg in less than a year
‘Losing weight isn’t easy, it’s something you need to be 100 percent committed to to see results – but there’s always a pot of gold at the end,’ she said.
The Daglis’ were determined to lose weight after a doctor issued a warning about George’s health.
‘The doctor strongly advised that he started losing weight because he weighed 92kg,’ she said.
‘While it wasn’t my check-up, I knew I would be worse off because I was heavier.’
Ms Daglis (pictured after her incredible transformation) was determined to lose weight after a doctor issued a warning about husband George’s health
Ms Daglis then Googled ‘weight loss programs’ before settling on one of the top results: Lite n’ Easy.
‘After doing some research, and the fact that my daughter’s wedding was the following year, I knew it would help me lose the weight and look good,’ she said.
‘I was already thinking of losing weight, but this was the final push to start.’
She started the meal plan the following week.
‘After doing some research on Lite n’ Easy, and the fact that my daughter’s wedding was the following year, I knew it would help me lose the weight and look good,’ she said
While the pair were originally eating homemade meals, Ms Daglis admitted their huge portion sizes was the ‘downfall’ that led to excessive weight gain.
‘We would eat three meals a day, but they would be huge meals well over the recommended portion size,’ she said.
‘My husband has a sweet tooth as well and would eat a lot chocolate or sweets if it was sitting in the pantry. ‘It was just too much food we didn’t need to be eating.’
In addition to the massive meals, Ms Daglis was skipping exercise due to her demanding full-time role as the manager of a doctor’s surgery.
While the pair were originally eating homemade meals, Ms Daglis admitted the huge portion sizes was the ‘downfall’ that led to excessive weight gain
‘We would eat three meals a day, but they would be huge meals over the recommended portion size,’ she said. Now the pair walk seven kilometres every day and eat portion-controlled meals
‘I’m not a gym person; I hate the gym, so we started walking for 20 minutes each day and as the weight dropped, we managed to walk for an hour up to seven kilometres per night,’ Ms Daglis said.
‘We live in an area where there’s a lot of walking trails, lakes and parks, which was very motivating.’
It was through basic cardio along with portion-controlled low-calorie meals that the couple managed to shed weight so quickly and transform their lifestyles.
It was through basic cardio along with portion-controlled low-calorie meals that Simone and George managed to shed the weight so quickly and transform their lifestyles
At the wedding, Ms Daglis said when she greeting close family, they had a blank look on their faces as they didn’t immediately realise who she was.
‘They were chatting and being nice, but they didn’t recognise it was me until someone said my name – then they were so surprised,’ she said.
‘It’s a good feeling knowing other people notice the difference, and I feel great too.
‘I used to feel the heat in summer and pant after going up the stairs at home, but now I can do so much more.’
Since her daughter’s wedding, Ms Daglis has lost another seven kilos and now weighs just 65kg.
When asked what advice she would give to others looking to lose weight, she advised ‘doing something you can stick to’ in order to avoid losing motivation.