Life revs-up for weight loss driving instructor
AN OBESE driving instructor who stocked up on calorie-laden treats at petrol stations between lessons is living life in the fast lane - after losing an incredible 12 stone.
Clare Gibbons, 45, of Macclesfield, is not recognised by former pupils after shedding nearly half her body weight and ditching her fizzy drink habit, which was providing her with eight times the NHS recommended daily amount of sugar.
Tipping the scales at 26st 10lb, she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in November 2013 and prescribed metformin medication which had a welcome side effect – weight loss.
Clare, who is now 14 stone 4lb and a size 12, has binned her size 26 clothes,. She said: “Being a driving instructor meant I never had to walk anywhere, so that didn’t help with my weight. I’d always have sweets in the glove box and stop at petrol stations to get more snacks.
“Looking back, when I saw myself in the mirror, I actually thought I looked alright, but seeing pictures now I can’t believe how fat I let myself get.”
Clare, who has two children, Amelia, 14, and Callum, 12, would have seven fizzy drinks a day – three cans of energy drink Red Bull and four of full fat cola.
This alone is eight times the 30g daily sugar amount recommended by the NHS.
She said: “I wouldn’t have breakfast, so the first thing I would do when I woke up was swig a fizzy drink, before having a drive-through KFC or McDonald’s on my break.
“Then I’d snack all afternoon in the car between lessons and have another takeaway in the evening.”
Clare says it was when she hit her early twenties that her weight started to balloon, and by the time she married her now exhusband she weighed 15 stone.
When having difficulties conceiving Clare visited her GP and was diagnosed with the hormonal condition polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – symptoms of which include weight gain.
Differing diets were unsuccessful but change came when she was diagnosed with diabetes.
Metformin was prescribed for her to reduce insulin resistance and its side effect was weight loss and more energy.
Clare, who also gave up fizzy drinks at that time, said: “It was a start and really inspired me to eat well and lose more weight.”
Five years on, Clare is happily involved with a new man, who she wants to keep anonymous, after splitting from her chil- dren’s dad in 2008.
She is saving for an operation to have excess skin removed but said: “Learner drivers I used to teach walk straight past me in the street now, as they don’t recognise me anymore.
“My confidence has improved no end and I feel like I’ve really revved up my life.”