My weight problems started as a teenager. After the birth of my first child Jamiein July 2002 I weighed around 10st 12lbs. I never felt happy of confident. After the birth of my second child Sarah in May 2007 I was a size 18 in clothes. I felt so embarrassed and didn’t want to go out to let other people see me. Some would say, “you look great” but I knew I didn’t.

One day a woman said to me, “not long to go now”, at this stage my baby was 2 weeks old!

My mum felt I was getting a bit depressed about my weight so she suggested we join Unislim. She had seen a poster of Unislim in a local shop window a couple of days earlier. So on Thursday 7th June 2007 we joined Unislim in Castleblayney. I was so nervous and embarrassed about going in but I knew I had my mum there for support. I remember walking into the room and seeing my Class Leader and when I looked around at everyone else I knew I wasn’t alone. Our Leader welcomed us to her class and she explained how the Unislim plan worked and the Unit system. She gave us our welcome packs which consisted of a food diary, a food plan and a Unit guide book which I thought was great. It had all units calculated for every food even the ones I liked, it even had an eating out guide at the back which was great cause I could still have my take-away once a week. She explained the importance of exercise and how it was important to earn our treats.

Then the dreaded part; I got weighted, I was 13st 8lbs and for the first time since the birth of my children I felt motivated. I couldn’t wait to get started.

The next day my mum and I went shopping for all our healthy supplies. We were so lucky because we had each other for support. We kept our food diaries and together we planned our meals and treats for the day. The week was soon over and it was time to get weighed. I got up on the scales and was delighted when the Leader said I had lost 7lbs! For the first time in my life I felt proud of myself.

As time went on I attended my Unislim class every week with my mum and I would even bring the baby. We stayed for the meeting as I though this was most beneficial to me. Every week our Leader would give us a saying that would stick in my head like “little pickers wear bigger knickers”. I lost weight almost every single week even when I went on holidays I stuck to my plan and lost 3lbs. It didn’t take long for me to memorise every single unit of food I liked in my Unit Guide. I was so excited about that the plan had worked for me. By Christmas I had lost 3st 7lbs and was a size 12. I was so proud of myself and how well I looked. I had got confidence in myself, something I never had before. I would go out and not worry what people think. People would ask how I lost so much weight and I wasn’t afraid to say Unislim. I was so happy to be a member of such a great class.

During 2008 I had some ups and downs, in April our Leader retired and we got a new leader, Linda. She was great encouragement to me as I had only five pounds to go to my target weight of 9st 8lbs.

But then I started to miss the meetings, I would come to get weighed and leave. I didn’t keep track of what I was eating on my food diary. The pounds soon started to go on. After a tragedy in my family in August I copped myself on and made a quick recovery. Eventually on the 18th September 2008 I reached my target weight of 9st 8lbs and I’m still losing weight. At the minute I am learning how to maintain my weight.

Unislim has changed my life, but most of all it was my Class Leaders who have inspired me. They would give you a quote or thought which would keep you going until the next class. The class leaders were excellent and created a friendly, humorous, lively atmosphere in our class. Unislim has taught me how to lead a healthy life while not depriving myself of anything. It has made me a more confident, stronger and happier person.