‘I felt amazing on my wedding day!’
A bride who shed five stone ahead of her big day says her weight loss has transformed her life.
When Emma Allison, 38, got engaged on Christmas Eve two years ago, she knew she needed to make a radical change to feel her best on her wedding day.
Signing up to Slimming World in January 2016, Emma, a secondary school teacher, set herself the target of losing the weight in time for her wedding on April 21 this year.
Emma, from Easington, said: “I had low self-esteem, felt ashamed of my continuous weight gain and hated going anywhere.
“I had lost a lot of weight a couple of years previously by eating low fat, but meeting my partner and becoming comfortable in our relationship, the pounds began to creep back on and I couldn’t control it.
“I decided it was time to do something about it.”
Weighing in at 16st 9lb and a size 24, Emma managed to lose five stone and married Gary at St Mary’s Church, in Easington, with the wedding reception at the Grand Hotel at Hartlepool.
She now weighs a healthy 11st 8lb and is a size 16.
Her husband Gary, 46, also lost 2st 7lb from following her Slimming World plan.
She said: “Over the year the pounds kept coming off.
“It felt great getting compliments off people and everyone was noticing a difference.
“I felt amazing on my wedding day, I wasn’t conscious of who was looking at me or photographs being taken.
“People think I did it for the wedding only but my journey is still ongoing.
“The support from the group leader and the group itself is exceptional and I look forward to reaching target hopefully before the end of the year.”