I banished my saggy ‘mum tum’ in 3 days with a 37p kitchen ingredient & lost 3st without fat jabs – I look half my age

DESPERATELY looking to find the perfect dress for her 40th birthday, Gracie Maxim struggled to find anything to cover her bloated belly. The heaviest she had ever been at 15st 8lbs, the mum-of-two found a technique that saw her bloated stomach shrink down in just a couple of days – a year on, she’s lost just under three stone without fat jabs or exercise. Ahead of her 40th birthday, Gracie Maxim discovered a hack to shrink her mum tum in just three days Credit: SWNS The mum-of-two continued to lose weight, without fat jabs, and has dropped 2st 13lbs in total Credit: SWNS Gracie, now 41, from Purfleet-on-Thames, Essex, says: “I think I wasn’t eating the right things at the right time and I think that’s what caused the weight to pile on”. “I wanted to be able to wear a nice dress without feeling uncomfortable. “As my weight was largely around my waistline, I spent six to eight months trying out different things – crash courses, fad diets, protein shakes, smoothies – literally everything you could think of and seeing what worked well for my body. “I used to think I needed to eat less, exercise more and my tummy would go away, but I was so wrong.” The 5’11 mum, who works as a teaching manager at a local college, briefly considered turning to expensive weight loss jabs – but after searching online found an “old wives’ tale from the Caribbean,” which involved drinking herbal drinks made from lemons throughout the day. She says: “I take a lemon, squeeze the juice, then pour boiling water into it, leave it to simmer, then add a few flakes of cayenne pepper. “I have this every morning on an empty stomach, and it reduces inflammation and helps digestion. Capsaicin in cayenne pepper reduces gut inflammation and speeds up digestion, while the citric acid in lemon stimulates bile production and can help break down food faster. When mixed with warm water, the drink stimulates natural muscle contractions in your digestive tract and can clear excess water and trapped wind, which often leads to debloating. “I’m not too rigid on it, but I think lemon water is best to drink in the morning. “If you have lemon in the evening, it can give you acid reflux. “Before bed, I recommend getting a couple of pieces of cinnamon sticks, pouring boiling water onto it and steeping in a cup for 15 to 20 minutes, and then you drink it. “Clove water is another drink that has an instant feeling of debloating and making you feel more comfortable.” Gracie has her lemon water in the morning around 7.30 before heading to work and having Greek yoghurt for breakfast. She then has chicken and vegetables for lunch before a dinner of salmon with sweet potato or cous cous. Gracie also started eating pumpkin and sesame seeds, drinking homemade ginger shots and doing her own lymphatic drainage massages – she says her new routine saw her lose 6Ib in three days. Just over a year on and she’s lost 2st 13bs, taking her down to 12st 9lbs. She says: “Diets in your thirties don’t necessarily work when you are in your forties, when your body is storing more fat because your hormone levels are changing and you have higher cortisol. “The game-changer for me was finding the right foods which told my hormones to calm down and sort themselves out, which helped me to burn the stubborn belly fat. “At the beginning, I felt half an inch go every evening.” Gracie says she was losing ‘half an inch every evening’ off her waist when she first started her new diet Credit: SWNS Gracie used all-natural tricks which are surprisingly affordable Credit: SWNS Gracie’s weight loss tips Lemon water and cayenne pepper in the morning Drink one glass of coconut water and 1.5 litres of water a day Walk 30 minutes to an hour every weekend Homemade ginger shots every day (mix ginger, lemon, a little bit of clove, a touch of cinnamon, a touch of cayenne pepper in a blender) Have a cinnamon-infused drink in the evening Eat a handful of pumpkin and sesame seeds every day As a busy mum-of-two teens, aged 14 and 16, Gracie admits she has no time for the gym but does an “intentional” 30 to 60 minute walk every weekend. Gracie says that while more people are turning to expensive weight-loss jabs, her own success has come from using cheap ingredients found in her kitchen cupboards – many of which cost little more than £1. She says: “Everyone has lemons in their kitchen. “You need to look at what you already have and try holistic treatments before turning to pills or injections. “I definitely considered Mounjaro, I won’t lie. “But I heard all the side effects and thought ‘no’. “You don’t need to spend a lot of money to lower your cortisol levels and reduce inflammation. “All of these methods mean you can save money, don’t have to go to pharmacies and spend hundreds of pounds when cheap, natural ingredients have the same effect.” Gracie, pictured before weight loss, never steps foot in a gym Credit: SWNS Gracie had considered Mounjaro, as the stubborn weight was affecting her confidence Credit: SWNS Gracie has also cut down on gluten, although she does still enjoy bulgar and sourdough. She says: “I don’t limit myself if I want something with gluten in it. “The big portions I’ve definitely cut out and definitely noticed a difference. “Before I lost weight, it got to the stage where I thought ‘you know what, this is it, I’ll start wearing all black, dark colours and all oversized. “It was just constantly having to use restrainers and body shapers all the time was getting a bit much. “I have to say it did knock my confidence at times. “Trying to go out without pre-planning outfits was a nightmare. “It did knock my confidence, and I thought, ‘something has to be done'”. “It isn’t about working towards a perfect body, it’s about getting to a de-bloated body that you love. I feel so much more confident in myself.” Thrilled with her own progress, Gracie is now documenting her alternative wellness journey and dietary tips on social media and has published an e-book and offers debloating coaching and mentoring sessions to women. She says: “I want women who have had children to know they can still feel glamorous and be comfortable in their bodies, wearing the clothes they feel confident in. “40 is the new 20 and women should be able to feel good in their own skin.” Follow Gracie on TikTok @hrhgracie.