Sunderland woman feels like she's 30 again after shedding over four stone with the help of Slimming World
‘When I hit my target weight, it felt like winning the lottery’
Margaret Hart, 71, said she feels like she’s 30 again after losing four stone and four-and-a-half pounds after joining Slimming World Ryhope.
Margaret, from Ashbrooke, was struggling with back and leg pain after her weight increased to 15 stone and three-and-a-half pounds.
She said: “I couldn’t really walk and my weight was having a big impact on my health.
“I didn’t have much of a social life and I was eating out of boredom. I was being greedy, eating crisps, chocolate, biscuits and other junk foods.
“I would eat until I was full - I just didn’t have a switch off.”
Margaret was also on medication for high cholesterol and blood pressure, but it was a shopping trip for clothes which eventually proved to be the catalyst for her to shed the pounds.
She said: “I had begun to shop in the plus size section and seeing myself in the changing room mirror was becoming upsetting to me.”
In September 2022 Margaret enrolled at Slimming World Ryhope and a year later she hit her target weight of 10 stone 13 pounds.
With the help of Slimming World, Margaret completely changed her diet and as she began to lose weight, started to do more exercise.
She said: “It was a case of sticking to the plan and making the right choices. I will now typically have an omelette for breakfast, something like a tuna salad for lunch and chicken and ham salad for dinner.
“I no longer eat crisps and chocolate and I now do an hour’s walk everyday, doing at least 5,000 steps.
“When I hit my target weight, it felt like winning the lottery.”
Since shedding the pounds, Margaret has maintained her weight and can now enjoy going clothes shopping.
She said: “I feel like I’m 30 again and the pain I was getting is about 80% less since losing the weight.
“There is no comparison to before and the best thing is I can now go to a normal clothes shop rather than one for bigger sizes.”
During her time at Slimming World Ryhope, Margaret has had the support of her consultant Vicki Todd.
She said: “Margaret doesn’t realise how much of an inspiration she is to other members of the group.
“Margaret has completely changed her lifestyle and now always wants to help other members of the group.
“She has been such an inspiration that other members have made stickers with the message ‘I want to hit my target like Margaret’.”
Despite having hit her target weight, Margaret continues to attend the Ryhope group.
She said: “I started my journey with a group of strangers and now continue my journey with a group of friends.
“We are all here for the same reason and the support you get to achieve your goal is priceless.”
To find out more about Slimming World sessions, go to their Sunderland website.