Potatoes and pasta helped me lose more than 5 stone
EVELYN BROWN, 63, is an NHS secretary living in Stepps, near Glasgow, with her husband David, 69, a retired independent financial adviser. They have two sons — Ross, 41, and Stephen 34 — and two grandsons, Harry, 14, and Rory, three-and-a-half. Evelyn lost 5st 5lb with WW, dropping from 16st 12lb to 11st 7lb, and from a dress size 20-22 to a size 16. She is 5ft 4in tall. She says:
BEFORE I joined WW I was at the end of my tether. I was sick of being the fat woman in the room. I hated the way I looked, my knees were in constant pain because of my weight, I puffed and panted and could barely climb the stairs.
I felt humiliated and miserable. I hated buying clothes and always bought online. When something new arrived I’d keep it and wear it even if I didn’t really like it because I was so glad it fitted.
My big problem is that I have a sweet tooth; I love cakes and anything with icing on it, ice cream and sweets, particularly jelly babies.
But I was determined to lose the weight, even though I knew it would take me a long time because of my age and because I wasn’t very active at first. So I tracked everything I ate and was very careful about weighing and measuring — and still am.
I immediately loved the fact you can eat the foods you like best, just a healthier version, so long as you track them on the WW app. And instead of limiting my options, as some diet plans do, it’s made me more adventurous, opening up a whole new world of pasta and potato recipes that have helped me lose weight and left me feeling fuller for longer than just a salad and breaded fish would — what I probably would have chosen before.
It’s helped me learn to limit my sweet treats — if I only had a couple of Points left over I’d just have a jelly baby or two and because I don’t feel hungry, I don’t need to use my Points on snacks.
T he weight dropped off regularly — in the first six months, I’d lost 2st. The remaining weight came off in fits and starts but I was determined, reminding myself constantly that I was aiming for ‘progress not perfection’.
I knew if I didn’t get a loss one week I would get there eventually because I had been totally committed and tracked everything I ate on the app.
Two years and two months after joining WW, I reached my target of losing 5st 5lb.
I’ve had so many compliments. I have given away all my old clothes to a charity shop and this winter, I will be wearing black skinny jeans with a pair of Ugg boots, something I’ve always wanted to do but never felt I had the figure to carry off.
I couldn’t believe those slim legs were mine when I saw a photo of myself!
As the weight started dropping off, I took up walking — around two kilometres a day and now I am always on the go.
I have so much more energy. I’m often to be found on the floor with my youngest grandson, who loves playing with his cars on our tiled floor.
There’s no way I’d have dared to do that before as I’d never have got up again.
I feel a real sense of satisfaction in losing so much weight and improving my life — I am chuffed to bits.