THE festive season always offers the perfect excuse to resolve to lose a few pounds, but for one High Crompton woman it was the start of an emotional journey to cut the calories.
She said: “It had got to the point where I just hated my body. I’ve had two wonderful children via c-section, but I could never lose the baby weight and just kept putting on more and more.
“Finally, I decided I’d had enough. I’d tried weight loss programmes before but never stuck to them, so this time I approached it with a totally different mentality.”
It was on New Year’s Eve 2017 that Keeley’s transformation to drop the dress sizes from a size 20 began and in contrast to her previous attempts she decided to start off slowly.
She continued: “Food has always been a big problem for me. I was a comfort eater and would turn to food for every emotion possible and I hated doing exercise on top of that!
“But I was firm with myself. I started making small changes to my diet and made a point of cutting down sharply on the number of takeaways I was eating, and I started noticing improvements.
“I felt like I had more energy. My hair was growing faster, it was shinier and had fewer split ends.
Just small victories like that felt amazing and encouraged me to keep going.”
It wasn’t just Keeley’s desire to lose a few pounds and adopt a healthier lifestyle that inspired her to persist with her Slimming World efforts, but also her newfound love of Rugby.
She said: “I started playing for the Pink Warrior Ladies at Littleborough RUFC in October 2017. I went to a match with some work friends who persuaded me to try it and I haven’t looked back!
“Losing weight has really complimented my training. I can run farther and for much longer than I could before, and as I continue to lose the pounds, I can feel it getting much easier to play.”
Since linking up with her Slimming World group, Keeley has dropped down to less than 15 stone and is only one dress size away from her goal.
She summed up: “I’m currently a size 14 and my target is size 12. I can’t thank my group enough for all their help and encouragement. I know without them I would have failed.
“That’s how I felt after all my previous attempts to lose weight; I felt like a failure.
“But I’m proud of myself for the progress I’ve made and I’ll be sticking with the programme for a long time to come.”
Jo Smith, Slimming World Consultant for High Crompton, said: “It’s very rewarding for us to see the fantastic progress that Keeley has made since joining us two years ago.
“She is incredibly supportive of other members of our group and is always on hand to give them advice and encouragement if they need it. She is an amazing person.”
• Jo’s Slimming World Group runs at St Andrews Methodist, High Crompton on Saturdays from 9am-11am.
