If one takes a look at the Facebook page of reggae artiste Sandy Star, they will not see many photographs of her when she was a mountainous 288 pounds.

But now that she has lost a whopping 67 pounds in only six months on a radical programme dubbed the ‘HCG Diet’, her page is littered with photos of her transformation.

“It was really hard to stick to the diet, you do cheat because it is so strict. But when you cheat, you don’t lose weight for five days, so then you will find yourself getting depressed again,” Sandy Star told the Jamaica Observer.

“With HCG, you just have to focus on the positives, the reaction of people when they see you, to motivate you to stick with this strict 500 calorie a day diet,” she said.

To meet the constraints of her regimen, Star says she consumed one apple a day, four ounces of protein two times a day and either a tomato or a bowl of callaloo.

“There is a small list of things you can eat, but you have to remember that 500 calories is barely enough to keep you going. In fact, without the HCG, you would pass out from the hunger, but the HCG helps you to feed off your fat,” she said.

A journeywoman in the reggae industry, Sandy Star is known for the minor hits, Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love and Let off the Money, a combination with deejay Macka Diamond.

Music insiders felt that her balllooning weight did not fit in an industry obsessed with glamour and sex appeal.

Sandy Star declared that she is much healthier now, and can perform for an extended period on stage since her dramatic weight loss. She performed at Flashback Fridays at Mingles in the Bronx, New York over the weekend.

She will be releasing a cover of Rihanna’s smash hit, Diamonds this week.

“My life is so much better now,” she said.