GR-EIGHT WEIGHT
SUMMER holidays are a time to overindulge, but as autumn approaches and with Christmas just around the corner thoughts turn to losing weight.
If you’re lacking motivation and inspiration or need some new tips and advice for losing weight, look no further. We have spoken to eight inspirational Welsh slimmers about why they have turned their lives around and what losing the pounds has meant for them.
From the grandad who was struggling to keep up with his granddaughter to the mum who was sick of always being “the fat friend”, they are sharing their stories in the hope of helping other shed that unwanted weight. Here are their stories:
Michelle Hamblen, 48, from Newport, weighed 15st 7lb and is now 9st 1lb after losing more than six stone.
Michelle was deeply unhappy. At her biggest she weighed in at more than 15 stone and wore size 22 clothes. After seeing a photo of herself on a work night out, she knew she needed to make changes.
“Seeing that photo was the reality check I needed,” she says. “I had let myself go and it made me so depressed. I knew things had to change. I had tried other diets before but had never really made any progress.”
The weight was affecting Michelle’s life in other ways too. Lacking confidence, she rarely left the house. With three children who wanted to go to the park and swimming she felt like she was letting them down by not being able to do these everyday things with them.
“I would never have my photo taken with the children, which I regret to this day. I had to swap to an automatic car as my knee was so painful and had two procedures on my back for decompression of discs, all down to the excess weight. Finally I had enough of yo-yo dieting!”
A friend was doing well at WW, the new Weight Watchers, so Michelle decided to give it a go and joined a group at Lysaghts in Liswerry, Newport, with coach Heather Strakis.
Michelle says: “Heather made me feel so welcome! I like to cook from scratch and just tweaked family favourites to make the recipe healthier by swapping ingredients to lower fat options and using less oil.
“As I neared my goal weight, Heather asked me to apply for a role as a coach.”
But in December 2018, 52-year-old Heather suddenly passed away.
“Heather’s passing was such a shock,” says Michelle. “She was a kind, caring person and touched the lives of so many people.
“I decided to push on to my goal weight and apply to be a coach in her honour. I didn’t lose weight every week and the last 5lbs seem to not want to come off, but with the support of my class and our new coach, I kept going.”
Michelle now runs three workshops a week in the Lysaghts Institute, after training for the role.
“I had some big shoes to fill, taking over the workshop after Heather. However, losing weight gave me my confidence back. Life is so much better now. I want to go out with my children now as I don’t feel I’ll embarrass them as the ‘fat mum’. I can walk without getting out of breath. I enjoy life and live again rather than just existing.”
Jamie Kostromin, from Swansea, went from 21st 5lb to 16st 8lb. The 42-year-old’s weight loss journey started because when he reached his 40th birthday he was nearly 21.5 stone, suffering from poor health, shortness of breath and could barely bend over to put on his socks.
His self-confidence was at an alltime low. At work he would avoid colleagues by hiding in his van and didn’t like to socialise. Jamie was so large that the standard work uniform would not fit him so he had to have a one specially made.
“I saw a photo of myself at my boss’s 50th birthday party and was so shocked,” he says. “I’ve got kids and I want to be there to see them grow up so I made a decision to lose weight.”
The following week, Jamie and his wife Madelene both joined WW in Penlan with coach, Helen Davies.
“As I stood in the queue behind my wife, all that was going through my head was I won’t be back next week. I’m no macho man, but in my head, WW was a ‘woman’s place’,” he says.
“Then two other blokes walked in and Helen gave me such a warm welcome, I started to feel more comfortable and began to change my mind. Hearing those men talk about how their confidence was soaring made me want to be part of the action. So I decided to give it a go. I lost 10lbs in my first week.”
As both Jamie and his wife were dieting, they made changes together. The family switched from pop to sugar-free squash or water and began to cook more from scratch.
“We became more of a team, planning ahead so we had a meal plan for the week,” says Jamie. “I make lots of delicious recipes in the slow cooker and use the app for recipe inspiration. I’m quite a picky eater but it has made me more adventurous and willing to try things, like fish or beetroot. I’ve learned how to make a ‘fakeaway’ so I don’t feel deprived. My version is so much tastier and healthier!”
Jamie also keeps a stash of snacks to hand and takes a packed lunch to work. Jamie’s life has changed in other ways for the better too. Before losing weight Jamie struggled to walk upstairs.
“I used to spend a lot of time on the couch, suffered from chest infections and had to take steroids for my asthma. I didn’t want to go to the park with the kids and it limited my hobbies too. I love photography and like to take night sky shots. I would have to drive places which wouldn’t always give me the best vantage point for the shot.”
Now Jamie walks 18k to 20k a day and is proud of the charity event to climb up Pen-y-fan he took part in. He has gone on to lose five stone and has the confidence to lose more.
Caroline Garland, 55, from Blackwood was 18st 11lbs but she has lost an amazing 11 stone.
In 2009, Caroline Garland, decided to join WW for her wedding in April 2010. At that time, she tipped the scales at 18st 11lb, was wearing size 26 clothes and knew that she didn’t want to walk down the aisle at that size.
“I found it was easy to fit the healthy eating plan around my daily routines. The zero point foods made it so flexible for me. I found it simple to eat nutritionally-balanced meals. Eating out was simple too. I would save my weekly allowance for the meal out and made healthy choices, like fish and chicken.
“I was so determined to do this. The weight just came off so easily. The comments and compliments I was getting were very encouraging and really helped me to adjust to my new eating habits too.”
On April 17, 2010, Caroline’s wedding day finally arrived and although she hadn’t reached her goal weight, she walked down the aisle in a size 12 wedding dress.
By September that year Caroline finally hit her goal weight and weighed 7st 11lb. In one year and nine months she had lost 11 stone.
“Losing weight had such an impact on my life,” she says. “My self-confidence was through the roof. It gave me the confidence to make other changes. I was so proud to not only have achieved a massive weight loss but to greatly improve my general fitness.”
However, in June 2017, Caroline suddenly lost her dearly-loved brother and then nine weeks later her cocker spaniel, Bethan, who was her constant companion, died.
“I didn’t cope with the grief very well at all due to being in a depressed state and devoid of any enthusiasm I gained weight for the first time since before I started my journey. As it wasn’t much, I decided to try and ignore it and get on with life.”
At Christmas 2017 Caroline’s husband, Paul Garland, bought her a cocker spaniel puppy, Oscar, and life was starting to get back to some sort of normality after a horrendous year. Things then took another turn for the worse.
In January 2018, Caroline had suffered terrible injuries after falling from the loft ladder in her house. Her tibia was fractured in seven places, resulting in surgery to put two metal plates in her leg to support her knee. “I was told by my consultant I had at least two years’ rehabilitation in front of me and was not allowed to bear weight on the leg for six months. He also stated that I would probably be looking at a two-stone weight gain due to the inactivity and lack of mobility.”
Unfortunately, the consultant was right, 15 months after her accident, Caroline weighed 10st 3lb. It had been a long road back to health, initially needing help with everything and then learning to walk again.
“I decided it was time to get back to WW and do something about it. I rejoined in March this year and so far have lost just over a stone. I really love how it encourages a healthy attitude to food, exercise and mindset.”
Rhian Brooks, 37, from Gorseinon has lost 4st 9lbs after going from 17st 5lb to 12st 10lb. She was fed up of being the fat friend, she was suffering with ongoing painful abscesses in her armpits.
During her pregnancies, the weight had piled on and with a young family and demanding job as a healthcare support worker, Rhian hadn’t made herself a priority.
“I had to have two abscesses surgically removed from my armpit. Then, I suffered another episode and became really ill as the abscess burst, resulting in sepsis as the infection spread through my body.
“Luckily the antibiotic treatment was successful. My family were very upset at how unwell I had been, especially my dad. He suggested that my weight wasn’t helping and made me promise to do something about it.”
The following month Rhian joined Weight Watchers in Pontlliw with a start weight of 17st 5lbs.
“I felt comfortable straight away. I was quite nervous but the coach was so friendly and welcoming. I began to look forward to my Monday morning as the group were so encouraging too.”
Before, Rhian’s eating habits were not healthy. “I started to cook more from scratch and would make a roast dinner for a Sunday. I would encourage the children to eat their carrots, peas and green beans but would leave mine as I am a bit of a fussy eater. The kids pointed out that I wasn’t eating mine so I was shamed into eating them. I now really enjoy vegetables.
“The family really love our new eating habits. My shepherd’s pie recipe goes down really well with everyone and my youngest can’t get enough of my spaghetti bolognese!
“My husband, Ian, has lost weight too from eating the same foods as me and we are all certainly healthier.
“For me this journey has been so much more than just losing weight. Before, I hid in baggy clothes, refused invitations to go places and if I did go would try to hide in the background. I hated having my photo taken.”
Losing nearly five stone and dropping from a size 22 to size 14/16 has given Rhian so much confidence and she now is an active participant in life, rather than watching it go by.
“For the past seven years, every summer we have holidayed in a caravan in Amroth. In previous years, I would have just sat by the pool, fully dressed, watching the children,” she says. “Last summer, I felt so good about myself that I put on my bathers