This Grieving Widow Dropped 56kg. She Took a Selfie a Day to Show her Weight Loss

When Justine McCabe’s husband John Paul committed suicide she did what most of us would do – mourn, for months.

Not only did she have to deal with the tragic loss of her husband, but she had also lost her mum not long before. Along with mourning, McCabe began turning to fast food as a way of dealing with her immense emotional pain.

McCabe, a mum to two children, weighed in at just over 140kg and barely left her home. Anxious, fearful and unhealthy, she listened to her family and friends when they tried to get her to make a change. It had been three months since her husband’s passing, and McCabe was ready to get healthy. She went to the gym, and it made her feel better.

Instead of snacking on fattening foods, McCabe traded her not-so-healthy lifestyle for a gym membership. She also started documenting her journey with a once a day selfie. Not only did the mum set out to get healthy, but she also decided to start overcoming her fears. She went skydiving, travelled overseas on her own and even climbed the Eiffel Tower! She told Caters News Agency, “After having time to re-evaluate my life while working out, I came to the conclusion I needed to pursue my dreams and tackle my fears – I needed to truly live.”

During her 365 of taking selfies, McCabe lost 56kg, going from a UK size 26 to a size 12. She noted, “Losing weight was part of a lifestyle change for me, I’d been overweight since I was 18 and was always trying the latest fad diets to get the weight off but it never worked.” She cited the selfies as a form of encouragement when she didn’t feel like facing the gym. McCabe would look at the pictures, and remember why she was making these changes.

Some of the challenges she’s faced (and excelled at) so far include cliff jumping, parasailing, paddle boarding, surfing, kayaking and completing a 6-mile Tough Mudder event! McCabe continues to set new goals, overcome obstacles, maintain a healthy lifestyle and act as a role model for anyone who thinks that they just can’t change (including her more than 32,000 Instagram followers).