Caroline’s a super slim inspiration
AN ORMSKIRK woman has been hailed as an inspiration after she slimmed down by seven dress sizes in less than two years.
Caroline Holder, 40, shed more than 11st after joining a slimming class.
Tina Whewell, who runs the local Slimming World group, said: “The changes we’ve seen in Caroline are incredible.
“I hope her success will inspire other people in West Lancashire who’d like to lose weight by forming new lifestyle habits and become happier and healthier to take action.”
Caroline said: “I feel like a new woman since losing weight, I am now the person I always in the inside rather than the facade I put on – in fact, I look so different that people who I haven’t seen for a while often can’t believe I’m the same person.
“For me though, it’s the change on the inside that’s been the biggest – I’m happier, healthier and much more confident now.”
She joined the local group in February last year.
She said: “I’d pretend it didn’t bother me that I was bigger than most other people, but that was far from the truth.
“I hated shopping for clothes and found just climbing up stairs and doing simple everyday tasks would leave me tired and out of breath.”
Caroline’s weight was also putting a huge strain on her health, she found it difficult to walk and got breathless easily.
Tina said: “People who are severely overweight, with a BMI (body mass index) above 30, are more likely to suffer from health problems like coronary heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and cancer, and obesity is linked to a reduction in life expectancy of between seven and nine years.
“Caroline decided to join Slimming World in Ormskirk after feeling so unhealthy and knowing being so overweight was having a severe impact on her life.”
Caroline said: “Walking through those doors was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, I was embarrassed about my size and scared that I might be the biggest person there.
“I needn’t have worried though, everyone there was so friendly, especially my consultant, and I was so relieved when I found out that my weight was confidential between me and her – I’d had visions of having to tell everyone how much I weighed.”
Since joining she has made many friends at her group and admits she doesn’t don’t think she could have done it without their support each week.
Tina said: “They’ve been helped with recipes and tips and if he was ever struggling her fellow members were always there to remind her why they wanted to lose weight in the first place, and how far she’d come since first stepping through the doors.”