Gran loses weight to fit into 50-year-old wedding dress
SHE SHEDS MORE THAN 4ST AFTER CELEBRATION CRUISE CANCELLED BY COVID
A DERBY grandma has lost more than four stone to fit into her wedding dress to mark her golden wedding anniversary.
Una Batty and husband John had booked to celebrate the milestone of 50 years married on a cruise in Hawaii.
But after the trip was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March, the 69-year-old set herself a new goal to mark the occasion.
The grandma-of-three wanted to get into the dress she wore when she got married at St George’s Church, in Village Street, in March, 1970.
Having already lost some weight, Una’s new target gave her the motivation to slim down further still and become a size 10 for the first time in her life.
Una, who lives in Chellaston, said: “When my husband asked me where I’d like to celebrate, in Bournemouth where we’d honeymooned, or Hawaii, it was a no-brainer.
“But then that was cancelled due to Covid, and I had to create a second goal to keep me motivated, and that was to get into my wedding dress.
“I always need to have something to aim for, and the dress was hanging in the wardrobe, and I thought ‘let me see if I can get into it’.
“It took a while, but I did manage to do it in early October, and it was a real eureka moment.”
Una weighed in at 15st 2.5lbs when she joined Jane Tucker’s Slimming World group in Chellaston in October, last year.
Now retired, the mu m - o f - t h r e e worked as an area manager for a distribution company for 25 years.
Una, who has now slimmed down to 10st 12lbs, revealed the changes she has made to her diet and lifestyle.
She said: “Looking back, I can’t say that I was ever one for puddings, cakes and biscuits. I love bread and cheese, they were my weaknesses.
“I have cut back on the carbohydrates and fat, and I eat a lot more vegetables now than I did.
“We’ll still have a Sunday roast, but we’ll have more vegetables with it than potatoes.
“We take a daily walk now, and walk for at least 20 minutes each day. We love gardening, and I have so much energy now that I can do much more than I used to.”
After the Hawaii cruise was cancelled in early March, Una was joined at Slimming World by her husband.
John, 72, has since lost two-and-ahalf stone himself and is no longer taking tablets for type 2 diabetes.
Una added: “We had heard that type
The dress was hanging in the wardrobe, and I thought ‘let me see if I can get into it’.
Una Batty
2 diabetes could be reversed, so he joined me at the classes and he’s lost two-and-a-half stone himself.
“He’s not taking the diabetes tablets now, so the signs are looking good, but we won’t know until the end of the year if it has actually been reversed.
“He’s been diabetic for 13 years, but he’s fitter than ever now, and I honestly can’t remember ever being a size 10.”