Heather Samson and Clare Archer from Club Kingswood in Basildon are our diet and fitness columnists.

Each week they will be giving hints and tips on how we can all live healthier lifestyles.

This week we find out how busy trainee solicitor Jay Dee Kallagher managed to lose weight while training for the London Marathon this year.

Name: Jay Dee Kallagher Age: 24 From: Billericay Dress size before: 16 Dress size after: 14 Total weight loss: 2st 2lbs Jay Dee, a busy trainee solicitor, wanted to lose wight and get fit.

She says: “I am thrilled with the weight I’ve lost - I feel like a different person!

“I used to eat a lot of home cooked curries and roasts that my naturally slim mum cooked as well as Chinese and Indian takeaways at the weekends.

“I would skip breakfast and went long periods without eating then I would make up for it by eating lots in one sitting.

“Now I eat fruit for breakfast, chicken salad for lunch and protein and vegetables for dinner and lots of fruit and nuts for snacks.

“I wasn’t completely inactive before but I had a gym membership at another gym and I hardly went - now I go three to four times a week and run at weekends.”

Heather Samson says: “Jay Dee has done amazingly well over the last year and has over two stone in weight.

“Losing weight and getting fit is a balance between fuelling the body for exercise and also burning the access energy that is stored as fat.

“Because Jay-Dee was training for the marathon it was very important that we got the balance right.

“Jay Dee followed her personal trainer Ben Vincent’s nutrition manual consuming whole foods and natural produce. She went by portion size to get into the habit of judging when there is enough food and too much. She measured her diet in carbs, protein and vegetables so there was no room for junk food just good healthy nutrition.

“A slice of medium bread is one portion of carbs and a small bowel of cereal is one and a half. Jay-Dee started with ten portions and then it was reduced to five portions.

“She was great to work with because she was so motivated to succeed and the marathon. Some people find they actually gain weight when training for a marathon, but this is usually just muscle. That’s why it is important to measure inches as well as pounds.”

Clare Archer says: “When Jay first came to the gym she was really looking to make a lifestyle change more than anything else. As her fitness increased she focused on training for the Marathon. she put in all the hard work to make it a realistic goal.

“Her personal trainer Ben Vincent gave Jay a thorough training schedule which increased leading up to the Marathon. He included strength work, core conditioning and aerobic fitness for her overall health and fitness.

“She trained three times a week in the gym and followed this up with a run at the weekend which progressively got longer. She and Ben took part in 10km, 10 mile and half marathon leading up to the event.

“Jay lost tow stone, two pounds, 19 inches from her body measurements, a massive five inches from her waist. A reduction of 7.2 per cent body fat whilst increasing her muscle mass by 3.5 per cent.”