A woman from Leeds has lost a life-changing 9 stone after seeing a picture of herself from a wedding spurred her into action.
Lisa Lenton, from Morley, managed to completely transform her body and her life after joining her local Slimming World group. She said: “I attended my niece's wedding and seeing the photos of myself really shocked me.
"My weight was out of control, I needed to get my life back and find myself again. I knew I was overweight, but my family didn’t want to hurt me by saying anything as they loved me for me.
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"Being overweight affected my health as I struggled to walk and became out of breath just walking upstairs. My knees and ankles were painful due to the weight they had to carry. Since losing weight I can now run up and down the stairs!
"I have an overload of energy and find walking a pleasure which I didn’t think was possible at the beginning....I’ve taken my life back."
Lisa, who said she didn't realise how bad things had got, said Slimming World has given her a new lease of life. She added: "When I look at the photos of myself now and compare to when I first started, I barely recognise myself. I’ve had comments from people who knew from before I lost weight, and they didn’t recognise the new me!
"The look on their face when they realised how much I’d lost in weight and that it was actually me standing in front of them was priceless.
"If I could sum up my journey in a few words, to encourage others to take the first step to making the changes needed to start their own weight loss journey, I would say this....
"Losing weight feels exhilarating. I have my life back and feel fantabulous. Joining Slimming World was the best move I made, I did this for me, I count, I matter, I could do this, I did this! If I can do it so, can you.
"Never beat yourself up, life can be hard, so don’t make it harder for yourself. The Slimming World group are another family who will care about you and support you every step of the way.”
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