Wales On Sunday

‘MY WEIGHT STARTED TO FALL OFF IN LOCKDOWN’

Nia lost 6st and discovered love of walking

- JOANNE RIDOUT joanne.ridout@walesonlin­e.co.uk

“I ONLY have to look at a fish and chip shop and the weight jumps on!” says Nia Gore, who has dropped six stone since the end of 2019 and through lockdown. The 43-year-old mobile hairdresse­r from the Aberystwyt­h area weighed 20 stone and 4lbs by 2019. Today, she is 14 stone 4 lbs.

Although not the direct cause of a rapid weight gain, Nia’s husband Neville, known as Dusty, became seriously ill in 2016.

Family life became a whirlwind of hospital visits to Singleton Hospital in Swansea and looking after their daughter full-time and alone while Dusty bravely battled his illness. It was a stressful time for everyone in the family.

Preparing meals and thinking about healthy food was not the main aim at this period of time. Taking Dusty out for meals to encourage him to eat the food he enjoyed through the pain of treatment for throat cancer became the focus.

Nia says: “My weight has always been up and down but it’s from that time that it went up, and up, and up, with no down.”

Years of working as a hairdresse­r continuous­ly on her feet combined with being overweight had affected Nia’s joints and fear of an impending knee replacemen­t if she didn’t tackle the excess weight gain was a constant worry.

Nia joined Weight Watchers in the summer of 2019 to give weight loss another go, but it was a struggle.

Then the coronaviru­s pandemic hit and the country went into lockdown, and Nia says she had a choice.

She says: “The first lockdown came and having all this time on my hands I thought, ‘you can either sit and watch TV and start eating or you can stay outside and enjoy the freedom’ and that’s what I did.”

For the first time in her life Nia bought a set of electronic scales to accurately track her progress and post her successes in a supportive Facebook group and soon the weight started to significan­tly disappear.

Nia says: “I’m not sure what was different about this time, I think it’s really to do with the mindset and the determinat­ion to not let it fade out, to stay positive.”

Tracking her progress, including weight loss, amount of exercise and food eaten, via an app has been one of the methods Nia has found that helped, coupled with the support from the Facebook group.

But it is her discovered love of walking that has been the biggest revelation to her during 2020.

Nia says: “When I was out on a walk everything seemed to disappear, I didn’t have to worry about anything, and there were a lot of worries at that time. For my mental wellbeing walking has made a huge difference.”

Nia is an experience­d fundraiser for local and national charities over the years, including organising local tractor runs and having her head shaved. Since 2016 Nia has raised an impressive £16,838, including £2,442 for MacMillan in 2016 and £2,248 in 2019 by hosting a coffee morning to recognise the support the family were given when Dusty was ill.

In lockdown last year Nia decided to use her new found fitness to run 5k and raise money for Bronglais Chemothera­py Unit (£1,425) and Blood Bikes Wales (£1,425).

Both charities, she feels, are important to support as living in a rural location health services can be a worryingly long drive away.

Nia adds: “I knew all those pounds would mount up to something significan­t eventually and it has: it’s produced a six-stone loss. I now weigh 14 stone 4 lbs and I’m so happy with that.”

A KEY step has been taken towards upgrading sports and leisure facilities in Mumbles, Swansea.

Mumbles Community Council (MCC) has had borrowing approval from the Welsh Government to progress the £1.7m renovation of Underhill Park.

The Go Underhill project will see a new pavilion, including a cafe and community hub, and an allweather sports pitch.

MCC applied for a loan of £840,000 and now looks forward to finalising the legal agreement with Mumbles Community Associatio­n (MCA) who will now drive the project forward to the building phase at Underhill Park.

Chair of MCC, Cllr Dr Martin O’Neill, commented: “This announceme­nt represents another significan­t step toward MCC realising their ambitious plans in relation to significan­tly upgrading sports and leisure facilities in the area.”

Simon Tse, Chair of MCA, said: “This is thrilling news for Go Underhill as it means that the funding is in place for a large part of the planned developmen­t.”

Underhill Park, which is home turf for Mumbles Rugby Club and Mumbles Rangers Football Club, will remain as open space.

The next steps include seeking approval for SuDS (Sustainabl­e Drainage System) and gaining building regulation­s approval.

A grant applicatio­n has also been submitted to the Welsh Government’s Community Facilities Programme which, if approved, will enable the additional two changing rooms to be built.

It is hoped that a decision will be received by the end of March.

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 ??  ?? Nia Gore before and after losing six stone
Nia Gore before and after losing six stone

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