A super-slimming mum has gone from fatty to fitty after she lost a whopping 11 stone E in just 16 months – because she wanted to like her idol Angelina Jolie.
Christina Staggs, 26, tipped the scales at 22 stone after gorging on sweets, chocolate bars and ice cream following the birth of her second son.
But she decided to go on a diet after a stranger told her she bared an uncanny resemblance to Hollywood beauty Angelina Jolie.
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She joined Slimming World in April 2010 and by August this year she had shed a staggering 11 stone and went from a lardy size 24 to a trim size eight.
Christina, who has three sons Dimitris, eight, Andreas, six and two-year-old Theo, now weighs 10 stone 9lbs and is regularly stopped in the street by people who mistake her for Brad Pitt’s stunning wife.
She said: “I must admit I never really saw the resemblance myself when I was bigger but one day I was chatting to a woman who said I looked like Angelina Jolie.
“She said we had the same lips which was quite a compliment because Angelina is famous for her big sexy pout.
“I thought I looked more Angelina Jelly than Jolie but the comment stuck with me and I had always tried, and failed, to lose weight but I suddenly thought I had a goal to aim for.
“I’ve always had a really sweet tooth and love sugary snacks.
“I’d go to the supermarket and I’d get a couple of packs of brownies, a family size dairy milk bar, a family bar of white chocolate and I’d get some desserts.
“I’d eat all that in one day. I’d eat loads.
“Now I’ve lost all the weight people say I am the spitting image of Angelina which I’m quite chuffed about and my boyfriend doesn’t complain either.”
Christina, who lives in Gosberton, Lincs., also decided to lose weight after she failed to buy any clothes which fit her.
She said: “Every time I went shopping for clothes I struggled to buy anything that fit me and sometimes I had to order bigger sizes.
“When I bought a size 23 I thought I didn’t want to do that anymore.
“And I used to get chest pains so I thought something had to be done.
“I lost six pounds in my first week and 19 pounds in a month so the excitement of that spurred me to keep going.
“It’s about teaching yourself to control the impulse and the snacking. At Slimming World you can have anything you want but in moderation.”
Christina ate three low-calorie meals a day and took her pet dog Ben for a three-and-a-half mile walk every night.
She added: “I was too shy to go to a gym at first so I had a cross-trainer and treadmill in my house and went on them for five minutes each every morning.
“And I took our dog Ben for a three-and-a-half mile walk every evening religiously.
“When I started losing weight I got a bit more confident and started swimming. And when I lost six stone I got a gym membership.
“For the first couple of months I went every day but now I only go once or twice a week.”
