Obese woman who dropped five dress sizes by exercising to YouTube videos reveals she lost a stone in just 30 DAYS 

A woman who mistook her own reflection in a shop mirror for that of an overweight stranger has revealed how the shock finally spurred her on to lose weight.

Lisi Kurti, 22, from London, weighed nearly 16 stone and wore size 18 clothes at the age of 18.

The student's diet consisted of junk food - in particular crisps, sweets and chocolate - and she began to suffer in her every day life due to her lack of confidence.

Scroll down for video 

Lisi Kurti, 22, a student from London, weighed almost 16 stone at her heaviest. After catching her reflection in a shop mirror - and mistaking it for that of an obese stranger - she has slimmed down to 9 stone (pictured)

Lisi pictured before her weight loss in 2012, aged 18. She used workout DVDs and YouTube videos to lose weight at first, and only after losing 3st 7lbs did she start going to the gym. She later did a 30-day tea detox

Lisi said: ‘My weight has always yo yo’d for as long as I can remember.

‘I had got to a point in my life where my weight was affecting absolutely everything- my outlook on life, my education, my confidence and most importantly my health.

‘My weight and appearance had a domino effect on my whole life for the worse.’

But it wasn't until a trip to Lakeside shopping centre, Essex, four years ago, that she realised she needed to change her ways.

She recalled: ‘I remember walking into H&M at Lakeside and I saw a lady on the other side of the store and thought "Oh my god let me never get to that size". Little did I know I was staring at my own reflection.

‘Once I realised that "lady" was actually me, an 18-year-old girl, I knew I couldn’t continue the rest of my life looking the way I did.’

A former fitness-phobe, Lisi now hits the gym every day and is now a successful beauty and fitness blogger

At 18, Lisi was the heaviest she'd ever been. It wasn't until she noticed her reflection in a shop window - and mistook it for that of a total stranger - that she was finally spurred on to start exercising and lose 7 stone

After that day Lisi, who said she could barely walk at the weight she was and compared herself to a 'penguin' as she could only waddle, began exercising from her own home.

She said: ‘I lost all the weight at home. I had only the corner of my room to work with and my beloved DVD player.

‘I was too ashamed to work out in a gym, where as at home even though I didn’t have any space I knew no-one could judge me.’

Lisi used workout DVDs and YouTube workout videos to lose weight at first, and only after losing 3st 7lbs did she start going to the gym.

'I knew I couldn’t continue the rest of my life looking the way I did’: Lisi in 2012, before she lost the weight

'Everyone has to look twice': Lisi, now 22, says that people struggle to recognise her since she lost weight

Lisi is now much more comfortable in her own skin. She said: ‘Today the only person I look up to is myself'

'My weight was affecting absolutely everything': Lisi has lost a total of 7 stone, going from a size 18 to an 8-10. She is pictured in 2015, before losing an additional stone by going on a 30-day tea detox

She lost an initial six stone before embarking on a 30-day natural tea detox last year, which helped her lose an additional 13lbs. 

Now, after dropping nearly half her body weight she weighs around nine stone and wears size 8-10 clothes.

She has also harnessed her newfound confidence to set up her own beauty and fitness blog, and has built up an Instagram following of more than 37,000.

The UCL student said: ‘The reactions to my weight loss is the funniest part.’

‘When people realise that it’s me they can not believe their eyes. I have had people I went to school with walk right past me because they don’t recognise me.

‘Everyone has to look twice in disbelief.’

Lisi now goes to the gym every day, while being a full-time student, and said while she is 'not perfect' she is now a role model for herself.

‘I was too ashamed to work out in a gym': Lisi lost an initial 6 stone before embarking on a 30-day natural tea detox last year, which helped her lose an additional 13lbs (pictured before and after the detox)

Lisi, who has lost almost 7 stone since her ordeal, said: '‘When people realise that it’s me they can not believe their eyes. I have had people I went to school with walk right past me because they don’t recognise me'

She said: ‘Today the only person I look up to is myself.

‘I look to become a better version of me and not look up to celebrities that have had their bodies adapted to look a certain way.

‘I would advise everyone to not flick through fake bodies or try to be something that someone has achieved through surgery, but use themselves as motivation.’

She added: ‘The main advice I would give someone on their weight loss journey is to stick and commit to it and you have my word that you will lose weight.'