A woman whose weight ballooned to 18 stone told how she felt like a “prisoner in her own skin”.
But after losing six stone, Donna Dowdall said she now has her freedom back.
The 57-year-old office worker is delighted to have shed the pounds piled on in the pandemic and has gone from a dress size 26 to a 14.
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Dubliner Donna, who has attended Slimming World on and off since 2013 told the Irish Mirror: “Covid hit and I ate my way through lockdown. I live alone.
“I was having bottles of wine and was bold on the food front too.
“I was sitting out the back garden drinking and eating ice-creams and bars of chocolate and the weight flew on me.
“I had no confidence and I hated going anywhere.
“If there was a family function, I detested going, as it was an absolute ordeal.
“It was so stressful to find something to wear, and bigger sizes are more expensive too.
“When I was overweight very few shops did my size, and even if they did they were old fashioned clothes.
“I had no social life because I didn’t want to go anywhere.
“I felt like a prisoner in my own skin because you put a brave face on it.
“You make out that you’re fine and that you’re the life and soul, always laughing and joking.
“Sometimes you’re even embarrassed eating in front of people.”
Healthy eating recipes provided by Slimming World helped her get back on the road to reaching her target weight.
She explains: “I now eat fish twice a week and chicken breasts. I make my own curries and you can even eat your own pizza.
“Jars of sauce are full of sugar so now I make a lovely homemade bolognese sauce
“I’ve always walked and kept active. But I was just eating the wrong food.”
Donna said the spark to finally take action came at a family wedding in Malta.
She recalled: “The seat belt fit me when I was going over. It wouldn’t fit me on the way back.
“I just said that’s it, I have to do something.
“With other crash diets, I lost two stone, but then put it all back again, but with Slimming World it worked.”
Donna revealed she has rediscovered her love of dancing.
She said: “I feel so much more confident. I used to do dancing as a child, I never went back to it. When I lost the weight a friend encouraged me to go back, I’m back ballroom dancing ever since and I love it.
“Since losing the weight I’ve got my life back, I’m a completely different person.”
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