On the 20th of May’08 I joined Unislim because I was fed up of being overweight!

As a child I was always heavy, but it was not until I reached my ‘teens’ that my weight became an issue for me. One of the most difficult problems to deal with was being the youngest of three girls and also being the heaviest. While my sisters could always shop and fit into whatever clothes they wished, this was not the case for me. As I was restricted in what clothes I could wear, because not many teen stores stock clothes in big sizes which always annoyed as I always wished to wear the same clothes as my friends and sisters.

Wanting to fit into nice clothes was not my only reason I joined Unislim. I also joined Unislim to improve my fitness, as I am a big sportsperson playing both Camogie and football. I often felt like I could be a lot better at my sports as my fitness always held me back, not allowing me to perform to my full potential.

I will never forget my first weigh in, when I stepped on the scales and seen 14st 5 lbs. Appear on screen. I knew from that moment that I never ever wanted to see that weight again. My first week I lost 7lbs and was so happy as no longer did I have to see that horrible 14st.I continued successful weight losses since then. But I certainly could not of lost all the weight each week if it was not for the encouragement, which I received from my class leader Shirley at each meeting.

The best thing for me is the fact I have replaced my bad eating habits with good one’s which will stick with me for life!

Because of the Unislim programme and my great class leader Shirley I now feel amazing, confident and healthy, I know feel like a normal teenager with nothing holding me back from what I want in life.