A mum lost seven stone after feeling embarrassed taking her kids to play in the park.
At 18 stone 10lbs, Sarah Jones didn't want to leave the house and had started worrying about the impact her weight was having on her health. The busy mum-of-two, from Ellesmere Port, said her diet lacked structure and she fell into the habit of gorging on her kids' leftovers and snacking on bread and biscuits.
But after plucking up the courage to join Slimming World Sarah has slimmed down to 11st 10lbs.
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Speaking of her journey to get there, Sarah, 35, told the ECHO: "It was my health, I realised that I needed to be around for my children basically. I had a two year old at the time and I could barely keep up with her at the park. I was constantly out of breath and I thought something's got to change.
"I didn't want to go out, I didn't want to do a lot. Going to the park with the children was a really big deal but I didn't want to do it because I didn't want to be seen at that size. I wanted to do something to make a change. I'd been thinking about joining for a while and just trying to build up the confidence to be able to walk into group and looking back you feel completely different because everyone is so completely lovely when you walk into group."
Since joining her local slimming world group in Ellesmere Port, Sarah said she feels a lot more confident within herself and can still eat things she enjoys by following the food optimising plan.
She said: "Life just seems to have become a lot easier since losing weight. I don't have to think about 'what do I look like today? Do I look fat in this? Do I look big in this? I just put on what I want to wear, get the kids ready and off you go.
"It sounds cheesy but group really is where the magic happens - that support you get I've never known it before in my life. The people who stick at it and come to group are normally the people who do well."
