I couldn’t believe how large I had got.. I wanted to weep
With her daughter’s wedding on the horizon, Wilma knew she wanted to lose weight. Maria Croce finds out how she shed the stones
WILMA Woodgate didn’t want to be a fat mother-ofthe-bride so it was the spur she needed to slim down.
She’s lost 7st 5lb and dropped from size 24 to 14 and gone from 20st 11lb to 13st 6lb.
Wilma, 55, lives in Dumfries with husband Simon, 54. She has four daughters Leona, 31 and triplets Katie, Sarah, and Emma who are 29.
She piled on the pounds after having her children and then turned to comfort eating when dealing with the trauma of her husband dying when the children were just eight and 10.
Wilma said: “I could have five different chocolate bars with tea and coffee.
“I wouldn’t just have one Jaffa Cake – it would be the box.”
When she married husband Simon 11 years ago, she was about 18st and her weight continued to go up.
Wilma said: “About four years ago, I went on a rollercoaster for my grandson’s birthday and it was embarrassing because I struggled to do up the safety belt and had to move seats.
“I just felt really unhealthy and couldn’t keep up with the grandchildren and even felt out of breath going up stairs.
“I knew I had to lose weight for my health as well.”
When Sarah announced her plans to get married in Antigua, it was the push Wilma needed.
She explained: “I didn’t want to be the fat mother-of-the-bride and hate the pictures, so I wanted to lose 5st.
“I was also worried about being too big for the seat belts on the plane.”
When Wilma moved to Dumfries, she joined WW – the new WeightWatchers – in June 2018. She said: “When I stood on the scales I couldn’t believe how big I’d become – I wanted to cry. I couldn’t look down because I knew the numbers would read like a cricket score and I was right.
“But my coach Irene Notman has been brilliant.
“I used to eat large breakfasts to feed two people, takeaways, pizzas, lots of chocolate and I was a constant snacker – but now I snack on fruit, homemade soups and salads.”
She tracked and calculated points for everything she ate and the pounds dropped off.
Wilma said: “You can eat whatever you want as long as it’s within your daily points.
“I can open a bar of chocolate and have two squares. Before, I would have had to have the whole bar. It’s about a mindset and how you want to be.”
By the time of her daughter’s wedding in August last year, Wilma had got down to a size 16/18 and felt amazing.
She said: “I was able to get into a suit and swim in the sea which I hadn’t done for years. And I was happier and healthier.”
Since lockdown, she’s been working in Tesco packing online deliveries and can walk up to four miles a day on a shift, which is keeping her fit.