"I loved standing next to my friends in a size 12 dress!"
Start weight: 13st 3lb | Weight loss: 3st
Current weight: 10st 3lb
Height: 5' 3" | Age: 38
Studio: Southfields Jubilee Centre, Littlehampton
WW Coach: Diane Hopwood, then Neil Doherty
Like many mums, my tummy never really recovered from pregnancies in my late 20s. And my weight really got out of control when I faced a series of unhappy events in my early 30s and turned to food for comfort. That’s when my stomach became the part of my body I hated the most.
It was easy for me to polish off a whole packet of biscuits after the kids had gone to bed. Add to that all the ready-meals and frozen pizzas I was eating, and it’s not surprising that I put on weight. But I became an expert at denial and didn’t notice the weight creeping on. Soon, I didn’t even fit into my jeans anymore and stuck to leggings and baggy cardigans instead.
But I got tired of always being the ‘fat friend’ and hiding in family photos or avoiding social events. With a Beyoncé concert with all my friends to go to, I joined WW determined to lose my ‘mum tum’.
That first meeting was tough. But my WW Coach was encouraging, and I soon found going to the weekly WW Workshops really helped me stay on track. I even joined Instagram so I could share my story and keep myself accountable. Amazingly, I got to goal the same week as the concert.
I loved standing next to my friends in a size 12 dress. I felt fabulous all night long. But the best part of getting to goal is that I finally feel like myself – this is my real smile, because this is the real me.