Weight-loss mum feared missing 40th birthday before losing 50lbs
A GLASGOW mum terrified of becoming housebound through ill health has shed 50 pounds in weight.
Alison Parkes was in pain, struggling to walk and surviving on a diet of frozen ready meals and McDonald’s takeaways when she made the decision to turn her life around.
“I realised my weight was a big problem,” said the 39-year-old, from Cambuslang, who had also given up her plans to train as a hairdresser because she was constantly unwell.
“I had been suffering from symptoms very similar to those of multiple sclerosis – losing the power in my limbs, tiredness and pain – and I was terrified I might become housebound.”
She added: “The doctor told me I had fibromyalgia. I knew something had to change.
“I kept saying I would change my eating habits but I’d done nothing. I was still overweight and still unhappy.”
At 12-stone one and a half pounds, Alison was heavier than she had ever been, she explains.
“I’ve always been slim, my whole life, but when I stopped smoking about six years ago I just started to pile weight on,” she says.
“It took a lot of courage to walk in to my local slimming class that first time, just over 18 months ago. I’d kept putting it off. But when I did, it made all the difference. It’s such a good plan and easy to follow.”
A typical day before she joined Weightwatchers would mean skipping breakfast, a McDonald’s for lunch and a frozen ready meal for dinner, and snacking on chocolate and crisps.
“Now Alison will have yoghurt and granola for breakfast, a healthy sandwich for lunch and chicken salad for tea.
Alison gradually lost almost four stones over the coming months.
“She is now eight and a half stone, and says her health – and life as a busy working mum – has been transformed.
“I have three kids, and when I was unwell, I could hardly keep up with them,” she smiles. “Now I have so much more energy. They have been fantastic too, really supportive.”
Alison still has to have regular check-ups and occasionally still loses power on the left hand side of her body.
“It’s a lot better but I do have to be careful,” she says. “Stress can bring it on. The doctors think it could have been triggered many years ago, perhaps when I went through a bad break-up, or even back to my daughter’s birth, which was particularly traumatic.”
The experience has also given Alison a new job – last year she trained to become a Weightwatchers coach.
“My coach really inspired me and now I’m over the moon to be inspiring other women,” she says. “I have found what I really want to do with my life, and it’s fantastic.”
Alison is preparing to celebrate her 40th birthday in style in a few weeks’ time.
“For a while there, I was worried I might not make it to 40,” she says. “So I’m definitely going to celebrate the new me with a big party.”