I lost 7st in 2020

A health scare set me on a new path…

Louise, 33, turned over a new leaf at the start of 2020 after contracting pneumonia. She’s since lost 7st and never felt better...

Height 5ft5in Weight before: 16st13lbs Weight after: 9st7lbs

Size before 20-22 Size after 10

Daily Diet before:

Breakfast - big bowl of coco-pops, lots of coffee with sugar.

Snack: Biscuits and crisps

Lunch: Sandwich, crisps, chocolate bar, pasty.

Snack: Chocolate bar, biscuits

Dinner: Chicken curry made with readymade sauce, rice.

Snack: Biscuits

Daily Diet after:

Breakfast: Coffee, no sugar. Apples and strawberries with fat free yoghurt.

Snack Banana

Lunch Homemade green vegetable soup

Lots of water throughout the day

Dinner: Roast chicken, no skin, with rice and mixed vegetables, plus green salad.

Snack: Options hot chocolate and Slimming World chocolate bar.

‘I feel full of bounce!’

The first time I hugged my children again after a week in hospital battling pneumonia in December 2019, I never wanted to let them go again. Oliver, seven, and Lily, four, were my world and I’d been so poorly, it had been a wake up call. 

They depended on me, yet I was overweight, unfit and unhealthy. I needed to change my ways - not just for the kids but for my sense of self-worth too.

Come January 2020, I joined Slimming World and started making tweaks to my diet, adding fruit and vegetables, cutting out bread, cakes, ice-cream, biscuits and crisps. 

It’s embarrassing to admit the way I was eating before but I think you have to admit to it, to move on. I started making every meal from scratch and trying new recipes. Every week the pounds disappeared.

I was training to be a solicitor, my fiance, Teki, 36, was a painter and decorator and between us, we ferried the kids between school and all their clubs and activities. It was nonstop and weekends were spent catching up with chores. I was too exhausted to exercise, but lacking self-confidence, I was convinced people would have stared at me if I’d gone for a run. I was sure my knees would have buckled from under me.

Then, lockdown happened. Suddenly, I was working from home and home-schooling the kids, but as Teki was at home too, we still had more time. I switched to attending Slimming World groups virtually and as I’d lost 2st3lbs since the start of the year, I had gained confidence and no longer cared if anyone was looking at me when I exercised. 

I downloaded Couch to 5k and we took the kids on long walks. Oliver has even been running with me. I am so proud to be setting a good example and doing something we enjoy, together. After I get home from a run, I have a sense of achievement which puts a spring in my step for the whole day. 

This year I hope to run a half marathon. Running has given me an incredible confidence boost, makes me feel energetic, strong and full of bounce. I feel happier with every passing day.