A breast cancer survivor lost five stone in a year because she didn’t want to grow old “feeling fat and frumpy”.
Andrea Paterson, 65, tipped the scales at 20 stone at her heaviest and said her weight ballooned to the point she needed to ask for seatbelt extensions on planes.
The grandmother-of-two began her weight loss journey back in 2014 but suffered two devastating setbacks – first in 2015 after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Then in September 2018 Andrea tragically lost husband Duncan to cancer, at which point she said her weight could have gone “one way or another”.
However, over the next 12 months the retired teacher swapped fried food for fruit and veg and saw her weight plummet from 17 stone all the way down to 12.
Andrea, from Lincoln, Lincs., said: “I decided to lose weight because I didn’t want to grow old feeling fat and frumpy.
“It was all for health reasons, I knew what could happen if I didn’t make a lifestyle change.
She added: “With things that happened in my life I felt like I was taking two steps forward and three steps back.
“When my husband died my weight could have gone one way or the other but I decided that I wouldn’t let it affect my weight loss.
“I was determined to get down to my target weight of 12 stone.”
When Andrea started her weight loss journey in 2014 she weighed in at 20 stone and had recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes – a result of her poor diet.
She mainly feasted on takeaway food and ready meals and says her favourite meal was steak fried in butter with deep fried chips and salad doused in mayonnaise.
Andrea then joined Slimming World and started to change her diet entirely thanks to the “amazing support” of her consultant Jenny.
She had already lost four stone in November 2014 when she was tragically diagnosed with breast cancer, which halted her tremendous progress to that point.
Andrea battled the deadly disease for four years, which involved getting a mastectomy, before getting better and kickstarting her weight loss once again.
She credits a large part of her success to Slimming World, adding: “They have been fantastic, it’s like a little community full of support.
“I would really recommend anyone wanting to lose weight to join.”
Using Slimming World tips and recipes Andrea is still able to eat most of her favourite foods.
She recreates her steak and chips dinner by grilling the steak instead of frying it, doing the chips in an air fryer and making her own healthy dressing for the salad.
In total she has lost eight stone, five of which were shed over the course of just 12 months.
Andrea said her lifestyle has changed entirely as a result of the weight loss.
She has gone from barely being able to walk for ten minutes to being able to keep going for up to two hours.
Andrea added: “One of the best is that I can play with my grandchildren now, before I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
You can find your nearest Slimming World group at www.slimmingworld.co.uk or by calling 0344 897 8000.
Please contact the local consultant to book in before your first Slimming World group and to find out how your local group is running safely in line with national and regional guidance.