'I've lost five stone thanks to Slimming World'

Paula Davies said her weight ballooned in lockdown as she was eating too much and wasn't exercising

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An 56-year-old woman has found a new lease of life since joining Slimming World. She has lost five stone, and it meant she had to make some key changes to become more active- and she hasn't had a takeaway since the start of her journey.

Paula Davies, who is a customer service manager at a bank joined the company's Bridgend group in January 2022 when she weighed 14 stone, 10lbs, but with lots of exercise and healthy eating, she has dropped all of her excess weight and is feeling better than ever. Now weighing 9 stone, 10lbs, Paula is a healthier weight and is proud of how far she has come.

Before she decided to embark on her weight loss journey, Paula was struggling with some of the emotions that had come hand-in-hand with her weight gain. She told WalesOnline: "To be honest I was ashamed of how I looked and how much weight I had gained as I was always conscious of how slim I was, but during lockdown, I gave up and was eating anything and everything, takeaways every week, chocolate and crisps."

Read more: Woman lost eight stone after being told she was too big to sit near a plane's emergency exit

But the turning point came when she decided she simply could not bring herself to buy any more bigger clothes. Paula said: "I had to keep buying bigger size clothes and I decided that I was not going to buy a bigger size, I already had some size 18 clothes and there was no way that I was going to buy anything bigger, so I knew I had to do something about it, that's when I saw the adverts around for Slimming World."

Considering how she did it, Paula noted: "Nowadays, I eat healthy - loads of fruit, veg, rice and generally sticking to the Slimming World plan. And I haven't had any takeaways since I started my journey.

"I had ballooned to 14 stone 10lbs which was down to excessive eating, lack of exercise, and inactivity during lockdown when told to work from home. It took me several attempts to walk through the door as I was extremely self-conscious about the amount of weight I had gained, however Anne Marie the slimming world consultant was welcoming and put me at ease immediately.

Read more: Five foods nutritionist says could help you lose weight, including chocolate

"One of the benefits of Slimming world is that you are with like minded people where you’ll share ideas, exchange recipes, and generally provide each other with some moral support and guidance along the way. This can make a big difference when it comes to staying on track.

"I still have a little way to go but I know I will get there with the support of my husband Ian, who has supported me from day one, Anne Marie and my slimming world friends."

And Paula has made a lasting impression on the group. Their leader, Anne Maire said: "As Paula's consultant, I am incredibly proud of her. Paula has done so well on her weight loss journey in a relatively short space of time. Paula never misses group & always takes a seat to soak up all the wonderful inspiration from all my gorgeous members.

"Watching Paula transform and grow in confidence has been an absolute pleasure... Well done Paula!"

She added: "My groups are friendly and welcoming and are at Westward Community Centre, Cefn Glas on Tuesday at 5.30pm and Wednesday at 6.30pm, or at Bridgend Tennis Club every Saturday at 8am and 10am."