Shannon Mitchell from Dundonald, is well known ‘keeping it real’ online by sharing her weight loss success and her tips for others wanting to follow in her footsteps, with her almost 26K TikTok followers.

The TikTok creator has currently lost over 85lbs so far on her journey. She posts videos and advice online on a daily basis, to motivate others to better their health by ‘making the change’, just as she did.

She spoke to RSVP Live about why she made the decision to change her lifestyle,

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“All my life I was self-conscious about my boobs. They were F cups. I went to the doctor to discuss getting a reduction as it was really affecting me. At that appointment they told me that my BMI was really high. If I wanted to go ahead with a reduction surgery, I needed to lower my BMI- that gave me a huge shock”.

She continued, “The doctor suggested that I started off by trying to lose two stone. I broke down in tears, at that time I really thought it would be impossible. I’ve tried all my life to lose weight, and it’s never worked. But that experience motivated me to properly get started. I didn’t want to feel that way for the rest of my life”

The content creator stated that she was fed up with ‘yo-yo dieting’ and so she kickstarted her journey by researching healthy weight loss online and by monitoring her calorie intake.

“Before I began my journey, I thought calorie counting would be a complicated weight loss method. I carried out some research on the internet and the more I found out, I realised this wasn’t the case. It makes it easier that almost every food has calories recorded on it”.

“In the beginning it was strictly calorie counting. I cut down slightly to start and gradually as I got used to it, I limited myself to one takeaway a week- I didn’t completely restrict myself as I wanted to make a permanent lifestyle change. I gradually started to get more active, and I focused on upping my daily steps.

“I think getting too bogged down on numbers can take the enjoyment out of it. I don’t count calories to an exact number. I count within a range of 100-150 calories of where I should be. It can feel really rewarding losing weight because you’re reaching all these goals. But I find if you’re too strict on yourself you won’t stick at it.

She stated that although the gym assisted her in losing the weight, she doesn’t believe it is essential for achieving weight loss.

“I joined the gym, and I attended classes but for the past few months I haven’t been able to due to injury. Although the gym makes me feel good sometimes, this has proved to me that it shouldn’t be a primary focus. I haven’t been in months, and I’ve kept the weight off”.

She explained, “I thought if I wanted to lose weight, I was going to have to turn into a gym freak who only eats salads and drinks protein shakes, when that really wasn’t the case for me. Before I went on this journey, that to me is the view I had on weight loss”

“There’s nothing wrong with eating a packet of crisps if that’s what you want! It’s just important to focus on eating everything in moderation.

You can follow Shannon’s lifestyle journey on TikTok and Instagram @shannon_mitch

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