Woman dubbed ‘queen of the fakeaway’ loses 6st eating healthy versions of McDonald’s

A food blogger, known as the “queen of the fakeaway”, has shed nearly six stone in a year by creating healthy versions of popular fast-food meals like McDonald’s Big Mac and Nando’s mac and cheese. Latoyah Egerton, 36, from Exeter, Devon, began crafting easy-to-follow recipes for takeaway alternatives from KFC, McDonald’s and Nando’s during the -19 pandemic.

Her creations quickly went viral on her Sugar Pink Food social media platforms. By swapping certain ingredients with lower-calorie alternatives – such as cooking spray instead of oil, lean beef mince and wraps instead of bread – she managed to create healthier versions of her favourite takeaways, including her toasted Big Mac wraps.

However, after breaking her wrist in 2023, she was forced to rely on ready meals, causing her weight to balloon to around 20 stone (127kg) by December that year. After penning a letter to herself on New Year’s Eve, vowing “no more excuses”, she resumed cooking in 2024, enjoying her favourite fakeaways and other dishes, like her hunter’s chicken tacos, which are just 216 calories each.

By December 2024, she had lost an impressive 5st 9lbs (36kg) and now feels like “a different person”. She is keen to help others achieve the same transformation, insisting that weight loss doesn’t have to be “boring”.

Speaking to PA Real Life, Latoyah said: “What I’ve learned the most is that change has to come from within.

“I think in 2023, I was almost excusing the weight gain because of the broken wrist … whereas in reality, the only person that could have turned that situation around was myself.”

To those who have commented on her weight loss online, saying “you look gorgeous now”, she added: “I was always gorgeous – I just had a little extra packaging.”

“Gorgeous is not a size, it’s a mindset.”

Latoyah, who has penned two cookbooks titled ‘Slimming And Tasty’ and ‘Slimming And Speedy’, shared that she’s always battled with her weight. She remembers being taunted at school, labelled “fat” and “the fat one”, leading her to internalise these hurtful remarks, despite only being slightly larger than her peers.

As an adult, Latoyah’s weight seesawed, but a broken wrist in 2023 severely impacted her lifestyle. “I wasn’t able to eat the usual meals that I would enjoy, the healthy meals, because I couldn’t prepare anything,” she said.

The injury meant she couldn’t chop vegetables or use a knife and fork, relegating her diet to microwaveable ready meals. “My job is to create recipes and cook food, so I couldn’t do what I love, and it just sent me on a downward spiral.”

The inability to cook not only affected her physical and mental health but also her business and income, leading to a challenging period.

Struggling with feelings of being “useless” and without purpose, she admitted to starting “eating (her) feelings” and gravitated towards comfort foods that were easy to consume one-handed, such as savoury crisps. As her clothes began to feel tighter and no longer fit, she found herself avoiding social outings, yet remained “in denial for a long time”.

“I was trying on my clothes and they weren’t fitting any more and I just thought, ‘How have these all shrunk so badly? ‘” she recounted. Latoyah’s weight gain persisted over the months, continuing even after her wrist cast was removed in November 2023.

A pivotal moment came in December 2023 when she tried on a particular shirt. “There was one particular top that I put on and it used to be a baggy top – it was a shirt that had buttons on it,” she explained.

“I put it on and the buttons were just absolutely bursting at the seams.”

Confronted by her reflection, she realised the severity of her situation. “I looked at my face and I had so much fat around my neck, and I just thought, ‘Look, this isn’t right any more. I’ve got to do something about this’. ” That was when she discovered the full extent of her weight gain upon stepping on the scales.

At that point, Latoyah weighed around 20 stone (127kg) and wore a size 26 dress. However, on New Year’s Eve, she made a “promise” to herself.

She penned a letter stating: “Latoyah, it’s NYE, and this is a year you would rather forget.”

“2024 will be the year that you will feel better. Better mentally, better physically, and you will feel like you did your best to get there.”

“No more feeling sorry for yourself. No more excuses.”

From January 2024, Latoyah said she began making lifestyle changes – she started cooking again, she stopped drinking alcohol and she decided to go swimming two or three times a week. She knew she did not want to “deny” herself of food that she loved, so she cooked recipes that were low-calorie but still “tasty”, such as chicken tacos, chicken shawarma and Mexican beef rice.

Being the “queen of the fakeaway”, she made some of her famous fakeaway recipes as well, including variations of a McDonald’s Big Mac, Nando’s mac and cheese and chicken chow mein. “It was all about having it in moderation and sticking to my calories,” she explained.

Latoyah said the weight started “dropping off” rapidly and, although she reached a plateau at one point, she knew she needed to focus on “a gradual and steady loss”. She said: “It’s more about living that healthy lifestyle rather than the actual numbers on the scales.”

Latoyah said she used a tape measure to track her progress and body measurements as well and, by the end of 2024, she had lost 5st 9lbs (36kg) and is now wearing a dress size 16.

She said she no longer “dreads” going out and she has “so many more options of what (she) can wear”.

Despite not reaching her target weight yet, she resolved to persist with her fitness journey – intent on building strength training into her regimen this year. She shared: “Cooking is my passion and I love doing it.”

And, with a benevolent spirit, she continued, “I really want to help other people that may have been in the same situation as me because I just would hate to think of other people feeling as low as I did.”

For those interested, further details can be found on Latoyah’s website at latoyah.co.uk, or by following @sugarpinkfood on or @sugar_pink_food on .