A woman who hated looking at photos of herself achieved her dream of running the London marathon following a four stone weightloss.
Sarah Mainwaring, 38, achieved her dream weight after dropping 3st 10lbs through Slimming World. The weight loss gave her the confidence to start exercising and she has now smashed her dream of running the London marathon.
The mum from Mountain Ash completed the Lodon Marathon in four hours and 14 minutes. She said: "Running the London Marathon is one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. The atmosphere, the crowds and the other runners were incredible.
Read more: Bride gives family four days notice of wedding after losing enough weight to fit back into dress
"If you'd have told me a few years ago that I'd have been running a marathon, I'd have laughed. The support I've received from family, friends, and of course Slimming World, has been really touching. I'm so proud of what I've achieved and I will never forget what a fantastic day it was."
Sarah said her weight started to creep up after a relationship breakdown. She became really aware of her weight gain when she struggled to do everyday things like walking, gardening or playing with her children.
Sarah said: “I hated looking at photos of myself too, so how I was persuaded to take part in a photo shoot for my mum’s birthday I’ll never know! When the images came back, they really shocked me. I knew things had to change if I wanted to live longer and be the mother to my children I so desperately wanted to be – I made the decision to join my local Slimming World group.
Sarah followed Slimming World’s Food Optimising healthy eating plan and loved that the flexible plan gave her the knowledge and skills to make changes to the way she ate and improved her understanding of her relationship with food.
Before she joined Slimming World, her diet was full of processed addictive food which was high in sugar. She relied on ready meals and easy food that didn't require much preparation.
She said: “Before I joined Slimming World, I wouldn’t eat breakfast and then I would snack on crisps, biscuits, fizzy pop and chocolate. I ate a lot of microwave meals and anything easy I could throw in the oven like pizza and chips.
"Now though it couldn’t be more different, I eat breakfast every day, like porridge topped with fresh fruit, and before, I thought I was too busy to cook, now I know planning my evening meals is the key. Eating a healthy, homecooked meal doesn’t actually have to take much longer than a microwave meal – and it tastes much better.”
Losing weight inspired Sarah to launch a new career too, and she is now a fully qualified fitness instructor and is currently studying to be a personal trainer.
She said: “My Slimming World group gave me the confidence to not only start eating more healthily, but to get active too. I was encouraged to start small, and I began by walking which then became completing the couch to 5k app. I am now a keen athlete, have completed two half marathons and I even went back to college and am now a fully qualified fitness instructor and currently studying to become a personal trainer. I want to let the world know how Slimming World got me from laying on the couch to a road running queen – the impossible became the possible!
"“I used to suffer with a really bad lower back pain and aches in my knees but since losing weight, I’m pain free. Running the 2023 London Marathon for Cancer Research UK is a dream come true. My son had a brain tumour many years ago, and I’ll never forget the fear and anxiety my whole family went through. Charities such as Cancer Research UK are vitally important.”
She chose to support Cancer Research UK, as one of Slimming World's official charities, in the hope of increasing awareness of how keeping a healthy weight and moving more can improve people's health and help reduce the risk of developing some types of cancers.
Slimming World Consultant Simon Richardson runs weekly group sessions in Aberdare and Mountain Ash and says: “Sarah is a real inspiration to us all and we are so proud of her. When she first came through the door she wanted to lose weight – however, she had no idea what a huge transformation was about to begin and certainly no idea that she would one day be running the London Marathon, it’s incredible! She is proof that with self-belief, determination and the right kind of support from a group of people who understand what it feels like to struggle with your weight and truly care about your success, anyone’s weight loss and activity dreams can be achieved.”
Sarah said she would not have been able to complete the marathon without the support of her running club Aberdare Valley AMateur Athletics Club, which she has been a part of since October 2022. She said they supported her with "outstanding" marathon training, as well as a training plan from Pip.
Read next:
- Woman who hated clothes now loves them after losing five stone and halving her dress size
- Mum who struggled to climb stairs says people don't recognise her after huge 12 stone weight loss
- Mum 'too embarrassed' to pose for photos loses 5st after kicking £100-a-week takeaway habit
- Slimming World 'changed life' of mum dealing with eating disorder
- Woman's incredible 10st weight loss leaves everyone in tears
