My moment of truth came when I could not fit into my maternity clothes when my daughter was 3 months old. The weight was always there but being a busy mother it was not top of my list of priorities.

When I did decide to do something I joined my local slimming club, Unislim. I was very pleased with my class leader, Caroline Ryan, who from day one helped me on my journey of 5 stone of weight loss.

Caroline made it easy to turn up for class, she was understanding and supportive and her practical help and tips were of great benefit in sorting out my non-existing eating habits. From week one I changed one to two things each week like drinking water and not touching the children’s leftovers, getting out of the habit of cleaning my plate and of course counting and weighing my food which to me was the secret to my success.

Then came the introduction of exercise and as you can appreciate with a small baby and three others to look after getting out on my own was a bit difficult. However, my garden was attacked with extra enthusiasm and gusto……I started cleaning the windows for exercise and also a bit more hoovering which all helped burn off the extras.

Eating healthy seemed to fall into place after the first few weeks and it just seemed to become the norm from then to the present day. Unislim’s plans are easy to follow and I could not believe the variety of foods available,along with providing food for the rest of my family.. I sometimes sneaked the higher unit foods and I did not feel guilty and I felt I’d bend the rules a little but didn’t break them very often. I do find that when losing weight you have to be flexible otherwise it is very hard to stick with it. Together with my class leader, I am now at my target weight and happy and content with my newslim, fit, healthy lifestyle and I am back to work, bubbling with energy to deal with my busy lifestyle.