THE Tireless Teacher

‘Healthy food wasn’t a priority’

Julie Annesley, 53, lives in Yorkshire

As my husband, Kevin, pointed the camera towards me while on a family holiday, I did my usual trick and hid behind my daughter, Amilee. But when I saw the photo, I cringed. In my size 22 T-shirt and long skirt, I looked like one of the tents at the nearby campsite!

I’d been overweight since childhood and tried many crash diets, losing a stone, then gaining two. I also never lost the weight I’d gained while pregnant with my son, Kyle, now 21, and daughter Amilee, 15. Healthy food wasn’t a priority – looking after the family, working as a special-needs teacher and checking in on my mum, Jean, and stepfather, Ben, seemed more important.

However, that photo made me take notice. A few months later, I discovered WW held a local meeting at 8.30am every Saturday, and I realised I could go to that meeting before anyone else in the house was awake!

I saw WW as a fresh start and was relieved to find the programme fitted into my busy life. For instance, we still enjoy Bolognese for dinner, but I’ll have spiralised courgette instead of pasta. I even started jogging three times a week!

Since losing 6st, I’m no longer so camera-shy, but the best thing about losing weight is I have far more energy for my different roles in life – wife, mother, daughter, teacher… Amilee has also stuck my ‘then’ and ‘now’ photos on her inspiration board at school, and Mum often tells me how proud she is. I know they’d award me a 10/10 for effort! ✱ To read more success stories or find out about the ww programme, please visit ww.com/uk