This Time Next Year guest pledges to lose HALF her body weight so she can have life-changing IVF treatment
The incredible transformation was carried out in just 12 months
A WOMAN set herself a mission to shed half her body weight in a year - so she could finally have life-changing IVF treatment.
Nurse Karen Jackson, 40, shared her journey on ITV show This Time Next Year, which gives guests 12 months to showcase incredible real-life transformations.
Having struggled with her weight throughout her life, 20 stone Karen has decided that it was the time to make her dream a reality.
This Time Next Year hopeful Karen told host Davina McCall that she had some big plans for the next year.
Karen is in a same sex relationship with her partner Laura and they both already have a son together, four-and-a-half Harry.
Karen confessed: “I’ve always wanted to have a baby myself.
“Being overweight and having IVF the way we have to do it, it’s not feasible for me.
“I’ve been to see a consultant and they’ve said ‘come back when you’ve lost your weight.’”
As Karen needed to undertake a weight loss of almost five stone to qualify for IVF treatment, she vowed to eat healthily and exercise three to five times a week.
When Davina caught up with her a year later, determined Karen looked completely unrecognisable.
After ditching her baggy t-shirt for a figure-hugging bodycon dress, the audience gasped at her dramatic transformation.
Although Karen didn’t quite reach her goal of shifting half her body weight, she still managed to drop an impressive six-and-a-half stone.
The mum-of-one revealed that she’d shed the pounds by cross country skiing, running 5k races, playing squash and even completing a 100k walk from London to Brighton.
As Davina offered her congratulations, Karen gushed: “It’s changed my life.”
She admitted: “I reached my target two months ago to be able to do treatment.
“I have started treatment and it’s been really positive.”
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An array of extraordinary people from all over the UK prepare to share with the nation what they pledge to change about their life by This Time Next Year.
The pledge could be anything from losing half their body weight, finding the love of their life or even becoming a parent.
In a TV first, This Time Next Year will deliver these transformations in an instantaneous ‘time travel’ style format.
Other guests on Wednesday night’s show include Linda Ralph who hopes to be reunited with an old friend, and Rhys Jones who hopes to qualify for Team GB at the Rio Paralympics and win a medal.
Motorbike enthusiast Sharon Martin aims to lose weight so she can fit back into her biking leather, and army medic Lisa Johnson hopes to have life-changing surgery which will give her back her mobility.
ITV1’s This Time Next Year airs from 8PM-9PM on Wednesdays.