I’VE LOST 9 ½ Stone!
After beating leukaemia and getting married, Margaret Rawling (70) explains how she took on her next challenge
t the age of 70, I’ve lost almost nine and a half stone! I’ve always struggled with my weight but, having previously been a size 22 on top and even bigger on the bottom half, I’m now a size 12 – and sometimes even a size 10. The last time I was a size 10, I was at school!
I decided to lose weight about five years ago, when my granddaughter, Marissa, was four. At that point, I was possibly the biggest I’d been. I’d been diagnosed with chronic lymphatic leukaemia a few years earlier and chemotherapy had made me gain even more weight – I looked like the Michelin Man when I
Amarried my husband, Richard, in 2010.
When I retired in 2011, I was looking forward to spending more time with my granddaughter. But I soon discovered I was too overweight to run about with Marissa and when we went to the park, I had to sit and watch her play rather than join in. I knew I had to do something about my weight – but it wasn’t until one of my friends mentioned she was going to Weight Watchers that I decided on my course of action.
In July 2012, I joined my friend at our local Weight Watchers class, where the scales revealed that I weighed 19 stone 13½lbs. I was shocked. I knew I had an immense amount of weight to lose but I was determined I was going to succeed – for my granddaughter and for me.
To make my weight loss less daunting, I broke it up into seven-pound chunks. Over and over again, I told myself “I only have seven pounds to lose” and once this chunk of excess weight had gone, I’d focus on the next seven pounds.
Losing weight with Weight Watchers isn’t about dieting – it’s about healthy eating. The Weight Watchers coach had explained when I joined that, thanks to their Points system, I didn’t have to give up any of my favourite foods. I just had to get into the habit of weighing everything I ate at home to ensure I had the correct size of portion, which helped me to keep within my Points allowance.
Slowly, I began to notice a difference in how I looked and felt, even though I didn’t lose weight every week. As I approached my goal weight
To make my weight loss less daunting I broke it up into seven-pound chunks
of 10 stone 7lbs and realised how much healthier and fitter I’d become, I started to do more exercise.
I treated myself to a FitBit and aimed for 3,000 steps a day, which encouraged me to walk more. Once I realised I was no longer having problems with my asthma or the arthritic hip that used to bother me when I walked any distance, I walked further.
With my healthy diet, active lifestyle and the support of my coach Diane and the other Weight Watchers members, in May this year, I reached my goal weight!
I can hardly believe I’ve lost 132lbs. It’s been a slow journey but over the last five
I realised I was no longer troubled with asthma or my arthritic hip
years, my eating habits have changed completely – and I will never go back to how I used to be.
If someone gave me a nine and a half stone sack of potatoes, I wouldn’t be able to lift it off the floor, yet my body carried all that extra weight around for years.
I have a pair of size 26 blue velvet trousers that used to be my favourite item of clothing. Last week, I stood in one leg and Marissa stood in the other leg! Looking at those massive trousers, and going to Weight Watchers every week, will keep me at the weight I’m at now.
Marissa and I have so much fun now. We go for long walks, bird watching and swimming. Losing weight hasn’t only changed my appearance – it’s changed my life!
◆ For more inspirational moments and to see how Weight Watchers can work for you, visit WWW.WEIGHTWATCHERS. COM/UK/SUCCESS-STORIES