A mum has gone from eating takeaways every night to dropping six dress sizes after struggling with her weight for years. Gail Cuffe decided to embark on her weight loss journey after suffering a health scare last year.
The 53-year-old, from Stockport, weighed in at 16 stone when she started suffering from heat palpitations. She says her blood pressure had also rocketed.
The grandmother-of-four hated having her photograph taken and dressing up for family occasions, reports the Manchester Evening News. She also felt guilty about not being able to do fun activities with her grandchildren.
At her heaviest, she was a size 24 and ate fast food almost every night. However everything changed for Gail when she joined Slimming World last year, which helped alter her mindset for good.
Gail now weighs 11 stone and can fit into size 12 clothing for the first time in years – something she described as a “pinnacle moment” for her. She said: “Because I worked long hours, I would hardly eat through the day and I couldn’t be bothered cooking because I was tired. It was takeaway every night.
“It was just so easy; I didn’t enjoy cooking. I didn’t have time to cook. I would have Chinese, Indian or pizza, anything that was quick. Where we live, we have quite a lot of choice of takeaways and it was just too easy to do so you get in the habit. Food didn’t really bother me in the day but then I would get hungry at night.
“Every time we were having memorable photos, one of the babies was born or we were out on a rare occasion, I would just feel horrified at the photos that would come back. I was in denial that that was the size I was but obviously a photo can’t lie.
“I wasn’t really fitting into clothes and wasn’t looking or feeling good about myself. A size 22 was quite tight; I was sometimes a size 24. But a couple of weeks ago I got into a size 12.
“My daughters kept telling me I was buying clothes that were took big so I thought, ‘I’m going to do it,’ and bought some size 12 jeans. That was a pinnacle moment for me. I’ve not fit in size 12 for years. Slimming World has not only changed me, but it's also saved me in so many ways. I can honestly say I haven't looked back.”
