A couple whose lives were blighted by crippling joint problems are now pain free after shedding more than seven stone between them.
Julie Hibbard, 53 and Paul Greathead, 50 from Stanley told ChronicleLive that they feel like different people and neither of them suffer from agonising pain any more. Julie has gone from a size 20 to a 12, while Paul’s waist has shrunk from 35 inches to a trim 28 inches. Julie's weight loss journey began after she joined WeightWatchers in September 2021 when she weighed 13 stone 7lb and Paul was impressed when she lost 19lbs in the run up to Christmas.
“I was in so much pain, I had to do something,” says Julie. “I have a disc that pops in my back and as I got bigger, it was hurting every day. Sometimes I’d be laid up for weeks. I felt rubbish. I was going through the menopause and getting bigger and bigger.
"Also, my younger sister announced that she was getting married in 2022 and I wanted to wear something lovely to the wedding and feel good about myself.”
As Julie lost weight, her back improved, as did her confidence. She said: “I used to wear one pair of leggings and the same T-shirt all the time. Working from home didn’t help and I felt so horrible. It was so nice to be able to buy clothes that I liked. I bought a size 14 dress for my sister’s wedding, but it was a little bit too big for me.
“The best thing of all though, is that my back improved enormously. I don’t have any trouble with it now.”
Seeing Julie transform and knowing that he was also due to attend her sister’s wedding, Paul decided to join WeightWatchers too. Despite being the only man at his local workshop, he decided to keep going and stick with it.
“I used to be in the army and I was so fit, I could eat whatever I liked without putting on weight,” says Paul. Then I started work as a truck driver and the weight piled on. Once I joined WeightWatchers, I had to go through the cupboards and fridge in my lorry, to remove all the junk food. It filled one and a half big black bin liners.”
Prior to beginning her weight loss journey, Julie rarely ate proper meals and lived on toast and cake, while Paul ate just one meal a day, which was only ever junk food. During the WeightWatchers programme, they were urged to eat three meals a day and start cooking from scratch.
They swapped sugary snacks for boiled eggs and cold roast chicken. “Even the dog has boiled eggs now,” laughs Julie.
Paul is often away from home, but there are no chocolate bars or crisps in his truck, which has a fridge and a microwave. He has oats for breakfast, chicken or tuna salad for lunch, and a WW ready meal in the evening with fruit in-between.
“I plan my meals and only take what is on the list. I also boil eggs in my kettle, which works brilliantly,” he says. When he’s home, the pair cook filling meals such as turkey bolognaise or roast chicken with vegetables.
Julie said: "We don’t eat without thinking about it any more. We don’t crave the food we used to exist on either. I had some birthday cake recently and it was much too sweet for me. The beauty of it is, I don’t get hungry in- between meals and never feel deprived.”
Julie now weighs 9 stone 13lb, while Paul has gone from 15 stone 7lb to 12 stone.
Paul adds: “I enjoy my food more than before, but the best thing of all, is that my joints don’t hurt like they did – I used to have terrible trouble with my knees and my feet. Walking around was difficult before, but now I am pain free and I feel more like the old me.
"Julie and I can go on long walks with the dog now and neither of us gets out of breath or has to stop because something hurts. Before, we could only manage 10 minutes.”
“It’s hard to believe we’ve lost a little over eight stone between us – that is the weight of a whole other person! At one point, it was a bit of a competition between us to see who could get to goal first. Now we’re both at a healthy weight and really enjoying life.”
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