She Lost 200 Pounds In A Year And A Half By Doing This ONE Thing, And It's So Easy

#1 Meet Cheryl Blythe

When Cheryl Blythe of Essex, Britain was 31 when she decided she needed to make a drastic change in her life. Her doctors told her that if she didn't do something about her weight, she would be in a wheelchair or dead by age 45. Not such a good thing for a mother of two small children. She had been depending on family and friends to care for her because she was so out of shape and unhealthy.

#2 Cheryl Weighed 339 Pounds

Her weight issues started when she was 17 when she became pregnant. She began to binge eat to hide her depression. When she reached her 30s, the issues worsened causing her to suffer a number of health related problems including back pain and breathing difficulties. She was having trouble walking and could barely fit in a chair. Her friends urged her to seek help.

#3 She Turned Down Gastric Bypass Surgery

When the doctors recommended that she lose the weight quickly, and opt for gastric bypass or lap band surgery to give her the push she needed, she refused. She wanted to do it the old fashioned hard way. "I felt that by having a gastric band fitted I wouldn't be learning anything about healthy eating or my own relationship with food - or helping my children to have a good understanding of healthy eating either," she said. So she started the next morning.

#4 She Had To Do Something Drastic

How do you from looking like a balloon to a smokin' hot blonde? Cheryl lost a whopping 200 pounds, and she didn't cheat by using surgery, either. The main reason she got so overweight was because she ate a lot of burgers and fries and drank 2 liters of soda every day. So that's what she decided to change: her diet.

#5 She Cut Out Sugar Completely

She swapped take out food for home-cooked meals. She went from a diet heavy on carbohydrates and sugar for home cooking and sensible snacks instead and began eating lots of fruit and vegetables. She said the worst part was giving up chocolate candy and cakes. She joined her local Swimming World Club in Essex. After a few months, her health issues disappeared and she no longer sits on the sidelines while her family has fun without her. She began walking regularly, and slowly graduated to running. She started swimming and took a water aerobics class.

#6 She Totally Changed Her Eating Habits

Instead of skipping her breakfast, she began eating poached eggs and mushrooms. Lunches went from a chicken sandwich with mayo to a homemade baked potato. For dinner, she made a salad with either chicken or fish. After making these changes to her diet and sticking with it, she lost 100 pounds and she was finally mobile enough to begin her exercise regimen. From that point on, it was easy. She worked out hard and lost the weight until eventually she weighed a very slender and healthy 140 pounds.

#7 She Credits Slimming World With Her Success

She joined a support group to help her fight her urges to binge eat and stay on track with her exercising. She was recently crowned Slimming World Woman of the Year and credits the weight-loss club with her health.

"Slimming World has given me my life back," she said. "I am so happy I did it the hard way so that my kids could see that if you have the strength within you can do anything."