I blamed my weight gain on being big boned but now I am a size XS with rippling abs but it’s nothing to do with the gym

STARING at herself in the mirror, Sophia Moulson hated what she saw in the reflection. Tipping the scales at 12 stone, the now 23-year-old was stuck in a miserable cycle of binge eating and gaining weight. For years, Sophia had convinced herself that she was big boned and that she’d never have abs despite gruelling gym sessions Credit: Jam Press/@sophclarefit_ But after overhauling her lifestyle and becoming a fitness coach, the 23-year-old is now unrecognisable Credit: Jam Press/@sophclarefit_ For years, Sophia had convinced herself that she was big boned and that she’d never have abs despite gruelling gym sessions. But after changing her mindset and lifestyle, Sophia has gone from wearing size 14 clothing to size XS/S with a ripped six-pack. Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter Thank you! And, according to the workout buff, it’s not about what you do in the gym. Sophia Moulson was tipping the scales at 12st and wore a size 14 after binge eating so much junk food and Coke that her hair began to fall out in clumps. Sophia was eating so much junk food that her hair began to fall out in clumps Credit: Jam Press/@sophclarefit_ These days, Sophia – now an online fitness coach – eats around 2,000 calories a day to fuel herself Credit: Jam Press/@sophclarefit_ But after overhauling her lifestyle and becoming a fitness coach, the 23-year-old is now unrecognisable – and with shredded abs that she once believed were impossible for her to attain. And, according to the workout buff, it’s not about what you do in the gym. “For so long, I thought I would never be able to get abs, and that it was just down to genetics,” Sophia, originally from the south of England but currently living in Thailand, said. “I always thought I was big boned when I first started the gym. I knew that everyone’s abs were always different based on your genetics, but I wasn’t sure if I would ever see them. Most read in Fabulous “I knew that to get abs, you need to have a certain amount of body fat to make them visible. I realised that abs are made in the kitchen. It doesn’t matter how many core workouts you do – if you still have a high amount of body fat, they won’t be visible. “Although I have been training for around two-and-a-half years, it is only at this point in my journey that I started to see abs. “I decided to give myself a good plan to follow, and have stuck to it for around three months. I’ve trained with intensity, but I dialled in my diet very hard.” These days, Sophia – now an online fitness coach – eats around 2,000 calories a day to fuel herself, chowing down on plenty of protein-friendly chicken and rice. Now weighing 8st 2lbs, it’s a far cry from just a few years ago, when Sophia was 12st. She said: “I was so uncomfortable in my own skin and hated my appearance. I had zero self-confidence, and I’d avoid social situations because I felt embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to see me. “I got so set in my ways of wanting to stay home and eat whatever I could. “Then when I would see myself in the mirror and feel uncomfortable, I would eat more to comfort myself. In one evening I’d eat a whole pizza, potato wedges, then maybe chips too. “I’d also then drink half a big bottle of Coke, eat three or four packets of crisps in one go, and a big Galaxy bar. All day, every day I was not paying attention at all to what I was eating. “It was constant takeaways like McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and loads of pasta every day. “When I started to not fit into my clothes, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s gone too far now’. That was the breaking point for me to do something about it.” As well as struggling to squeeze into her usual clothes, Sophia felt her health declining. She said: “I felt so unfit I couldn’t walk far without being out of breath, and I kept dreaming of a life which was so far from my reality. “My hair was falling out due to stress. It would fall out in clumps in the shower, and thinned a lot.” Sophia believes her hair loss was due to both her diet and stress from not living the healthy lifestyle she sought. She committed to going to the gym three times per week from September 2023, and found that “everything changed” when she focused on her health. Slowly, she started to see changes in her body and mindset, combining a healthier diet and calorie deficit, which saw her shed more than three stone. These days, Sophia works out four times per week, and always hits 10-12,000 steps a day – something she credits as “helping massively” with fat loss. She said: “I train a combination of quad- and hamstring-focused leg days, followed by an upper body day with a focus on shoulders and rear delts, then a rest, followed by a glute-focused day, then a back day. “I like to now train the muscle groups that I feel are lacking definition after training for a few years. “Some weeks I also mix it up and like to do a HIIT CrossFit-style workout and shadow boxing – I found this helped engage my core the most, and I feel so much stronger for this. “I also train Muay Thai 3-4x a month currently, and I’m also training my abs three times a week just like any muscle group. “For my core, I love training hanging leg raises, knee raises, Russian twists, and weighted crunches – I find this targets all parts of my core. “Engaging your core when you are weight training is crucial to help build your core.” Sophia added: “This journey has completely transformed my life in ways I never imagined. I love my physique now! “It’s the most confident I’ve ever felt, which makes me so happy, and I feel so strong. I feel very healthy, and being healthy is my priority.” Comment now