A Glasgow woman dropped a whopping 12 dress sizes after years of yo-yo dieting and issues with her health.
Jennifer Paterson, 67, saw her weight go up and down over the years despite being a member of WW (formerly Weight Watchers) for over a decade.
It was only when she recovered from bowel cancer, endured lockdown, Covid-19, and a horrible experience at a wedding that she was able to reach her ideal weight.
Now Jennifer wants to share her story with others to remind everyone that it doesn't matter just how many times that you try, it matters when you try at all.
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Jennifer, from Kilsyth, told Glasgow Live: "I have been overweight for longer than I care to remember. I used to start a diet on a Monday and would have given up by the Wednesday of the same week.
"A friend suggested we join WW (formerly Weight Watchers), and at that time I was 14 stone. I attended my weekly workshops, but I didn’t find it easy. I would take a pound or two off and think I had done well, then we would reward ourselves with a carry out meal for doing well, completely undoing any success we had.
"Needless to say, the weight just kept going up and eventually I would stop going to the workshops, telling myself that the plan wasn’t working for me. It was always the plan, and not me."
Jennifer said that something shifted initially when she had to shop for an outfit for a family wedding and she realised her weight had ballooned.
She said: "I had to eventually settle for a dress that fitted me rather than a style I really wanted. During the wedding I felt uncomfortable not wanting to be in photographs, or when I had to be I would ensure that I was near the back of the group hiding myself as much as possible behind the group.
"Eventually I plucked up the courage to weigh myself and was horrified to see that I had ballooned to 16 stone, and now wearing size 24 in clothes - this was the last straw I decided that there was NO WAY I was going put on any more weight, and it was time to do something about it for good."
Jennifer managed to lose four stone during this time, and was feeling good until "fate dealt her a blow" and she was diagnosed with bowel cancer, which then spread to her lungs.
She kept in touch with her WW coach Mandy McGuire throughout the year, surgeries, and chemo, and returned to WW workshops when she had the all clear.
A year on, she reached her Gold Membership when she lost four stone - even managing to keep to her goal weight after lockdown in December 2021 and away from her workshops.
Jennifer said: "The most important thing that happened this time, was that I believed in what was looking back at me in my mirror and liked it….success, and there was no going back now, and my journey will continue, and will always be work in progress."
Jennifer credits the app and online tracking of her activity, food, water intake and vegetable intake for her weight loss.
Alongside that, the workshops, peer support and understanding nutrition has instilled a huge lifestyle change rather than merely going on a diet.
Jennifer told Glasgow Live: "My eating used to be a breakfast of honey nut cornflakes, then a roll and bacon or sausage plus a coffee with milk and two sugars. Lunch would be a scotch pie with beans and bread and butter, plus a coffee with a biscuit or cake.
"Dinner would be meat with chips and veg, followed by a pudding of apple crumble and custard, washed down with a can of full fat juice. Snacks would be constantly crisps, chocolate, sweets. Even getting petrol I would buy two bars of chocolate, one of which was finished before I left the petrol forecourt. Then supper could be two slices of toast with melted cheese."
But now, Jennifer's diet couldn't be more different.
"WW has taught me to eat more of the right types of food.
"Breakfast is now boiled eggs and one slice of toast or WW apple and cinnamon porridge. Lunch is usually homemade soup and a low-fat yoghurt to follow, and dinner is often a WW recipe from the app and my favourite is turkey chilli or sticky peanut chicken, with fresh veg or salad, followed by fresh fruit and yoghurt.
"Supper is now one slice of low calorie bread with laughing cow light cheese triangle. Snacks are not as frequent but will be yoghurt, fruit, WW crisps or bars and drinks now are black sugar free coffee, water, no added sugar diluting juice, and the occasional fizzy drink is always the low or sugar free variety."
And through it all, Jennifer says that "I am now in control of me".
She adds: "I look at my before and after pictures, and in one I see a woman who was very much out of control, with no self-worth, who cared about others but never herself, and the other is a person who has learned so much about herself and realises that she is so not only very much worth it but is entitled to whatever she wants.
"I realise and accept that I am the best and only person who knows my true feelings, desires, trials and challenges. When I am in a good place all is well and I can then offer the best to both me and others.
"I am now thinner, happier, healthier, and more outgoing, and my clothes size has gone from a 24 down to a 12, and I enjoy clothes shopping, and can finally accept compliments about how I look.
"I now swim three times a week and walk daily, and I can keep up with my husband without complaining or getting breathless as my husband is a fast walker. Distance or inclines are now no issue."
And her advice for someone looking to follow in her footsteps?
"Spend as much time as you need when considering your why.
"This was and is so very important to me.
"Be super honest with yourself, review your 'why' when you feel you need to and remember it every day. Just remember failure is a detour, not a dead-end street."
