17st 9lb 22 11st 12lb 12
Ht can seem like a oesn’t have to be. th changed their a year thanks to r losing almost 16st hey reveal how they over 12 months...
s also stunned at the amount you eat. hese days breakfast is fruit and
-fat yogurt followed by home-made p for lunch and more fruit. For dinner, ola loves lean chilli, home-made cken tikka masala or Cajun creamy cken pasta and for treats she likes mmingWorld’s Hi-Fi Bars. Nicola says: “I no longer rely on my aler like I used to. Just before I rted SlimmingWorld I went on iday and on the plane my laptray uldn’t fit down over my stomach. d while Alan and Josh had the time heir lives at the waterpark, I sat on unger in leggings and a T-shirt and ched them.
Last summer, back in Tenerife and rly 9st lighter, it was a different ry.The plane’s seatbelt was massive me and I went armed with my msuit for the waterpark. Christmas this year was so much with all the parties and nights out. el like I’m living again.Alan is so ud of me. I’ll keep my old photos a reminder, but that woman is ne.This is the new me.”
To get at #ThatFeeling visit Slimming World or slimmingworld.co.uk 0344897800. call World Follow Slimming on Instagram @SlimmingWorld
THIS time last year,Anna Muffett, a desperately unhappy mum of one, spent the festive period delving into chocolates.
Only just fitting into a size 22 and weighing 17st 9lb, she was so self-conscious about her size she grimaced every time someone tried to take a photo of her.
“I detested how I looked and had to force a smile when anyone pointed a camera in my direction,” says Anna, 34. “But even worse, I hated the mum I had become. I felt as though I was letting my little girl down. Getting up and down off the floor could leave me gasping for breath.” Now, after losing over five stone with SlimmingWorld, Anna is a shadow of her former self and this Christmas she was able to show off her new slinky figure. Supermarket worker, Anna, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said: “Christmas is all about children and this year I was the happy energetic mum I’ve always wanted to be.”
Anna’s battle with her weight began after she and husband, Matt, an IT engineer, lost their first baby, Ethan, who was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect when she was 20 weeks pregnant.
“I was offered a termination but refused, hoping a miracle would happen,” says Anna.
Sadly, Ethan’s condition was too severe, and he died when he was six days old in September 2014. Anna says: “I was heartbroken and spent a year crying. I’d never felt pain like it. I barely left the house and started suffering from severe anxiety.”
Anna, who had been a size 16 while pregnant, turned to chocolate biscuits, cream cakes and sweets for comfort and hit a size 22.
She said: “I craved sugary things for a quick fix. I also had no respect for my body as I felt like it had failed me, so it was my way of punishing myself for losing Ethan.”
A week before what should have been Ethan’s first birthday, Anna discovered she was pregnant again. She recalls: “It was a bittersweet moment as I was so sad my little boy would never celebrate his special day but at the same time, I finally had a reason to smile again.”
In April 2016 Anna gave birth to her daughter, Robyn, now three, named after the bird that had appeared at poignant moments since losing her son, including when she was in the hospice with Ethan after he died, and on his birthday.
But as Robyn became a toddler, Anna hated being an unfit mum. She says: “I was too out of breath to chase her around the park.”
When Robyn was six months old, she was admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis and later suspected asthma. For a year,Anna sat next to her bed eating goodies despite knowing she was setting her daughter a terrible example.
Anna says: “Robyn was left out of breath for a medical reason. But I had caused my own lack of energy by eating too much.”
After yet another Christmas of overindulging, in February last year, Anna decided to join Slimming World. “I swapped cakes and chocolate for fresh fruit, healthy home-made meals and filled the fridge with veg. I cooked properly for the first time and surprised myself by how much I enjoyed it.”
Instantly the weight dropped off. Within six months Anna had lost over five stone, dropping to 11st 12lb and fitting in a size 12.
Anna says: “I felt like a new woman. I’d spent so long in baggy tops and elasticated trousers so being able to walk into any store and buy a pair of skinny jeans or a fitted top was just amazing. Family and friends I hadn’t seen for a while had to do a double take.”
But the real bonus came when she discovered a newfound energy, allowing her to chase Robyn around the park.
Anna, who will always see herself as a mum of two, says: “Losing Ethan was the hardest thing but gaining Robyn saved me. This Christmas I was the mum I have always wanted to be.”
By MICHELLE RAWLINS