Loughborough Echo

New-look Rowan says: I guess I was ashamed of what I looked like - people wouldn’t want me in their pictures

HOW HER DRAMATIC WEIGHT LOSS WAS ALL ABOUT FINDING MOTIVATION

- By TOM MACK thomas.mack@reachplc.com @T0Mmack

FOR Rowan Selby, turning her life around and losing nine stone was all about just finding the motivation to try.

Within a month of starting Slimming World classes she was losing weight continuous­ly and has dropped from about 21st to just 12.

Rowan, 61, who lives in Rothley, was in pain and struggling with her health in various ways.

But the weight loss has transforme­d her health in every way and she now enjoys tennis again for the first time in a while.

She said: “I had been overweight since I was a teenager and had reached 21st.

“I was on blood pressure tablets and antacid and movement was tricky. I was developing a bad pain in my right knee, as well.

“I had kept playing tennis but only in doubles and I wasn’t able to run around the court. I wasn’t enjoying it much, either.”

She learned there was a Slimming World class in Narborough, near where she played tennis, but it took a mental change before she could begin her weight loss journey.

She said: “I had some major mental health issues but I knew that once my head was in the right place I’d be ready to make a difference.

“When I joined Slimming World in 2018 I had some family weddings coming up and I guess I was ashamed of what I looked like - people wouldn’t want me in their pictures.

“I got to the point in my therapy where I valued myself enough to try.”

Having made that vital decision, Rowan went along to the meetings and switched up many of her eating habits - limiting herself to occasional takeaways, learning new cooking skills, giving up bread and throwing out the butter. “The cookbook they gave me when I joined was ideal for making those changes,” she said.

“For someone who didn’t really cook from scratch much it taught me how to do easy things.

“I found losing weight easy to do - and in just one year I’d lost six stone.”

By August of this year Rowan had shed her target of nine stone.

She said: “I still enjoy food, but the key thing is I’ve found new things to love - if I want something sweet I get a mango or a pineapple.

“If I want a curry I have a curry, but only once in a while.

“For me it’s not a diet at all. It’s just a new lifestyle and one that’s better.

“I’m happier and healthier than

I’ve ever been before.”

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 ?? ?? Rowan Selby before and after her weight loss
Rowan Selby before and after her weight loss

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