Obese mum embarrassed by bulging belly snap with famous rapper Nelly loses six stone after trying over 45 diets

An obese mum embarrassed by her bulging belly picture with famous rapper loses six stone after trying over 45 diets.

The moment Shalita Ford, 30, from Louisville in Kentucky, USA, was pulled onstage by her idol Nelly to dance and sing ‘Dilemma’ should have been a once in a lifetime moment, but she was humiliated.

PICS BY SHALITA FORD / CATERS NEWS

Instead of being able to show-off the pictures of herself she was ashamed of her ‘bulging belly’ that she says looked ten times bigger than normal.

Shalita, who weighed 16st 6 (230lb) two years ago, vowed to diet so that if she ever saw the rapper, who she ‘loved’ from the age of 13, again she would look her best.

She went from consuming up to 6,000 calories of fast food a day to forming her own ultimate plan to lose six stone (84lb), after trying 45 diets and exercise plans

They ranged from Weight Watchers to fad diets including chicken soup, egg, apple cider vinegar, the Hollywood, three-hour, werewolf, cookie, ice and more.

Shalita, a pharmacy supervisor, said: “Ever since I was 13-years-old I was in love with Nelly and when I went to his concert, I was so hyper and jumping around that he pulled me on stage.

PICS BY SHALITA FORD / CATERS NEWS –

“Nelly and I sang ‘Dilemma’ together, while a friend took pictures but when she showed me them I was just disgusted by how I looked.

“When meeting someone like Nelly you want to look your best and for someone like him not to look at you with disgust, it made me realise I needed to change.

“Looking at my gut was the worst, I had leggings on and it was like a stocking bulging and sticking out, making my stomach look ten times bigger.

“I had these incredible once in a lifetime pictures where I had sung onstage with my favourite person in the world since I was 13 but couldn’t show them to anyone because of how I looked.

“I always knew I was bigger but at no point did it bother me before, apart from I hated having pictures taken and would get upset if someone took one of me.

PICS BY SHALITA FORD / CATERS NEWS

“Thinking about the photograph with Nelly kept me motivated to change my lifestyle and made me determined to continue on the diets when I was struggling.

“I tried everything but didn’t do it correctly, I went through crash diets to meals plans that included drinking cayenne pepper multiple times a day.

“There are a lot of nutty diets out there, I gave them all a try because I was desperate to lose weight, I failed a lot of them because I wanted instant results rather than hard-work and a lifestyle change.

“Once one diet didn’t work I would try something else and recorded the pros and cons so I could modify my ‘ultimate diet plan’ based on elements from them all.

“Health wise now I feel better than I ever have, I have a lot more energy even when sitting down typing at a computer and don’t get tired as easily.

“I feel better overall about life, feel accomplished and just amazing.”

PICS BY SHALITA FORD / CATERS NEWS

Shalita initially gained weight during her childhood due to steroid treatment for her asthma, which saw her bulge to 10st 10 (150lb) at just nine-years-old.

Then in the world of work, her weight continued to rise gaining a sedentary 13-hour-a-day job, with falling pregnant and eating large quantities of fast food.

Shalita said: “As a child, I had asthma so was on steroids every day for four years and then continued on steroid therapy, which led me to pick up a lot of weight growing up.

“I started as a teenager doing different workouts from Cindy Crawford to Richard Simmons, nothing helped me lose the weight then after having my daughter I just gained more.

“I ate a lot of fast food, I was always eating out, then with working 13-hour shifts was not moving so the weight never came off.

PICS BY SHALITA FORD / CATERS NEWS

“I rarely cooked and as I grew up I loved baking so would eat cookies, cake, pies, anything I could make with a tonne of sugar, I would even put 15 packets of sugar in an 8oz cup of coffee.”

But after the embarrassment of her Nelly picture she decided to start changing her life two years ago – combining healthy eating, exercise and ways to improve her digestive health.

After taking on over 45 diets she compiled her ultimate plan, which drew aspects of them all.

Shalita said: “First, meet with your primary care physician before starting any dieting or exercise, you want to make sure you are healthy and strong enough to give it your best.

“Take care of your belly, go find a Probiotic, this is made to improve and sustain a healthy gut and your issue may be food is moving slowly through your body.

“Improving your digestive health will speed up your metabolism and how fast your food is digested and will also allow you to not feel bloated or like you ate too much after meals.

“In my diet I always boost my body by completing a three-day detox before starting to help me clear all the bad toxins I have ingested; the end result is awesome and you will feel brand new.

PICS BY SHALITA FORD / CATERS NEWS

“Also, remember during your journey you may fail several times before having positive results but keep pushing, nothing worth having is easy.”

Shalita says compiling her own ultimate diet and dropping to 10st (143lb) she feels like a completely new woman.

She added: “I’m so proud of what I have achieved but weirdly I’m not used to it yet, I have kept my olds clothes because it feels like a dream that someday I will wake up from.

“I spent the majority of my life being overweight so this is really new to me but I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

“People are amazed with my weight loss, they always ask me for tips and how I did it.

“For me it was Nelly who motivated and kickstarted my weight loss, he was at least 50% of my motivation and then my ultimate plan helped with everything else.”

PICS BY SHALITA FORD / CATERS NEWS : Shalita pictured right, at her heaviest

DIET BEFORE

Breakfast – McDonalds steak, eggs and cheese biscuit (580) and hash brown (147)

Snacks – cookies (100cal), chips (152), snickers (215) and coffee with 15 packets of sugar (230)

Lunch – Applebee’s quesadilla burgers (1400), fries (538) and dessert (350) with fizzy drink (100)

Dinner – Cheddar’s New Orleans pasta (1,623)

Desserts – cakes (129), cookies (100) and pies (67)

DIET AFTER

Breakfast –  egg whites and wheat bread or peanut butter on toast

Snacks – fruit or vegetable trays

Lunch – salads, soups or baked chicken with vegetables

Dinner – baked fish with vegetables

Dessert – fruit

SHALITA’S 45 DIETS THAT HELPED TO FORM HER ULTIMATE PLAN 

10 day Master Cleanse

Detox Body Wraps

HCG Diet

Military Diet

3-hour Diet

5:2 Diet

Hacker Diet

Beverly Hills Diet

Whole 30 Diet

Cabbage Diet

Grape Fruit Diet

Chicken Soup Diet

Hollywood Diet

Clean Diet

Subway Diet

DASH Diet

Boiled Egg Diet

Standard Ketogenic Diet

Three Week Diet

Topamax

Chalene Extreme

Zone Diet

Raw Food Diet

High School Reunion Diet

Joel Furhman Diet

Engine 2 Diet

Cinch Diet

Fast Food Diet

Blood type Diet

Montignac Diet

Alklaline Diet

Ornish Diet

Mediterranean Diet

Weight Watchers

Apple Cider Vinegar Diet

Alli

Glycemic Index Diet

Air Diet

Cookie Diet

Werewolf Diet

Sleeping Beauty Diet

Shangri-La Diet

Dessert with Breakfast Diet

Ice Diet

Fist Diet

My Ultimate Diet