Megan Winstanley, 31, has transformed her life, shedding 8st 3lbs after committing to a daily 30-minute morning swim and a complete dietary overhaul. The local authority worker from Wigan, Greater Manchester, now competes as a bodybuilder and recently finished second in her latest competition.
At her heaviest, Winstanley weighed 15st 10lbs and would secretly eat sugary snacks late at night. She spent years watching friends swap clothes with one another while she always had to buy something new. After returning from travelling in 2018, she recalls looking in the mirror and feeling sick at her reflection, describing herself as depressed.
Initial weight loss for brother's wedding
Winstanley's transformation began when she shed two stone ahead of her brother's wedding by completely overhauling her diet. She ditched meals such as chicken tenders and chips in favour of green beans, rice and protein oats. Determined to maintain momentum, she signed up for an online 12-week calorie challenge, carefully tracking her macros and calorie intake.
She told Sell Us Your Story: "My lifestyle was not going to the gym, I didn't have a routine, I didn't have the education around the nutrition. It was very carb-heavy meals throughout the day. I had on and off part-time jobs studying performance at Salford University, and I did summers away in the US, and it was more or less when going home that I'd look at photos and not be happy with the way I looked."
Following her success in reaching her goal weight for the wedding, Winstanley chose to continue her transformation. She began swimming every morning for 30 minutes, and most days would go to the gym afterwards, incorporating resistance training and using the cross trainer.
Discovering bodybuilding
In 2022, Winstanley discovered the bodybuilding scene after doing a photoshoot that instilled the idea that with more dieting she could be stage ready. She said: "I was 53.7kg and that was in four years. I thought if I was in the best shape of my life now, how far could I take it?"
In 2023 she experienced a bulging disk in her back, but prior to that she had wanted to do something big. She entered the PCA first timers competition without a coach, and although she felt rubbish on stage, it set a fire within her. She has since hired a coach and now takes part in competitions nationwide.
Winstanley said: "In my head I wanted to enter my 30s as them being my best years. Once I stood on stage I got the bug and I wanted to be better and better. I have a coach for it now and I'm in the best shape of my life at 47.5kg."
Diet and training regime
Winstanley attributes her weight loss to resistance training and her dieting regime. She said: "I would say the resistance training and dieting the biggest factors for weight loss. Weight training more than anything. When I was training three times a week, I would do my weights, my cardio and then in the evening I would go to farmer strong which was tyre flipping, rope climbing. In between that I was working full-time."
Her diet before included breakfast of two slices of toast with jam, lunch of a wrap or rice box with chicken tenders, and dinner of stew or heavy carb meals like potatoes, chips, chicken breast with chips and beans. She would also secretly eat sweets at night. Her current diet consists of protein oats for breakfast, chicken with green beans and rice or potatoes for lunch and dinner, and Greek yoghurt as a snack.
Winstanley now visits the gym most days and recently finished second in her latest bodybuilding competition. She advises: "If you want change, then you need to go and do it. Once you start going and taking it step by step, it becomes natural and part of your identity and part of your routine. It's a rollercoaster, but it's about the end goal of feeling happier and looking in the mirror."
