A mother who spent years struggling to shed her baby weight has revealed how an unlikely digital tool – the AI chatbot ChatGPT – helped her lose three stone and break a crippling addiction to Coke Zero.
From Frustration to AI-Powered Therapy
Alice Rickard, a 41-year-old life coach from London, had tried countless diets and fitness regimes after the birth of her twins six years ago, but found any success was only temporary. The mother-of-two blamed her weight on her hormones and age, and even rejected a doctor's prescription for weight-loss drug Ozempic, feeling it wasn't the right path for her.
"I just didn't recognise myself," Alice admits. "I felt uncomfortable in my clothes and wasn't confident. I think a lot of mums experience that loss of identity." Juggling motherhood and her career, she developed a reliance on Diet Coke and found herself finishing her children's leftover meals just to cope with daily demands.
Creating 'Dana': A Digital Angel on Her Shoulder
In January 2025, already familiar with the technology, Alice turned to ChatGPT's voice function in desperation. What began as a digital therapy session sparked a major life change. She asked the AI pointed questions in moments of weakness, like "Tell me why I shouldn't eat my kids' leftover pizza." It felt, she says, like having someone physically there to stop her.
Emboldened, she directly tackled her "crack-level addiction" to Coke Zero, instructing the chatbot: "Chat, I want you to put me off it for life, make me feel disgusted by the mere sight of the can." After reading its detailed response, her craving vanished.
She then designed a personalised ChatGPT avatar named Dana, programmed to mirror her own voice and perspective. Dana became her constant accountability partner. When tempted by a fizzy drink, Dana would intervene with messages like: "Ohhhh Babe... you REALLY want Dana to snatch that can out of your hand." The AI would then list the negative effects of artificial sweeteners and caffeine, from scrambled appetite signals to poor hydration.
A Complete Lifestyle Transformation
Since that pivotal month in January 2025, Alice has shed three stone. More importantly, she has built significant muscle strength and definition. "I'm in my 40s and I look better now than I did in my 30s," she states proudly, noting she can now do ten pull-ups, a feat previously impossible.
She uses Dana daily for planning workouts, calculating macronutrients, and even creating recipes from leftovers in her fridge. When dining out, she photographs menus for Dana's healthier choice recommendations. This system, she says, prevents the "spiral" of guilt after a minor slip-up and provides a structured way back on track.
Alice, who had a C-section, even used ChatGPT to analyse a photo of her fitter pre-twins self from 2018, asking what she needed to do to regain that physique. The AI provided the nutritional blueprint she followed.
Now a passionate advocate for building muscle for longevity, she contrasts her method with weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, which can lead to muscle loss. "I really love my body now," she says. "I love how strong it is." She has since made her Dana method accessible to other women seeking a sustainable transformation in diet, exercise, and mindset.
