Delia Pettigrew

68, Ardrossan, retired childcare worker

DIET PLAN: Paleo Diet (heavy on protein and light on carbs) START WEIGHT: 15 stone 2lb WEIGHT NOW: 14 stone 9lb

LOST: 7lb “I’LL be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to dieting. I love chocolate, crisps and strawberry tarts…and I was brought up in a generation where you ate stodgy food and always cleared your plate, so I find it difficult to control how much I eat and to eat the right things.

“Two of my favourite foods – and biggest downfalls – are bread and potatoes. They aren’t allowed on the Paleo diet, so I wondered how I was going to live without them. But I’ve actually done surprisingly well.

“I’ll admit, I’m disappointed I didn’t lose more, but I really feel the positives have outweighed the negatives.

“I am thinking a lot more about what I’m eating – and how I cook it. And about doing more exercise too. I’ve had the occasional potato with my Sunday dinner, but apart from that it has been relatively easy to stick to.

“I wanted to lose a lot of weight for my holiday, but I think I got more of a lifestyle change instead which is probably better in the long term.”