There’s something about Mary’s weight loss!

An East Sussex mum who feared her son would be picked on because of her size has won a national award for her inspirational weight loss.

Mary Watkins, 42, struggled with her weight for years and was diagnosed with high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia while pregnant with her elder son Freddie. After unsuccessful attempts to lose weight, including fasting, she joined Slimming World and lost 7st.

She’s now maintained that weight loss for seven years, opened her own Slimming World group helping other slimmers, and been named Slimming World’s Top Target Consultant 2024.

She says: “Freddie was born seven weeks premature as he had stopped growing due to the blood flow from my placenta being weak. I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and my weight and high blood pressure played a part in that. It hurts me to think that Freddie might not have been born early if I’d been a healthy weight.”

At more than 17st, Mary was advised to lose weight to control her blood pressure, especially if she were to become pregnant again. She says: “I knew a lot of people who were intermittent fasting at the time, so I gave that a go. I did lose a little bit of weight before I conceived my second son, Walter. The weight soon came back on though, and as the mum of two small boys, I found it difficult to make myself and my health a priority.”

Mary found herself turning down opportunities such as attending friends’ hen dos and realised she needed to make a positive change when Freddie was due to start school in 2016: “I was worried he would get picked on because of my size. A few of the mums at the baby groups I’d been to had mentioned Slimming World and friend said that she was joining our local group, so I decided to give it a go myself.

“The group was nothing like the stereotypes I’d seen on TV. I was met with warmth, care and support from the Consultant and other members – it was amazing.”

Mary, who lives in Crowborough with husband Dafydd, Freddie who is now 11 and eight-year-old Walter, soon began to enjoy Slimming World’s healthy eating plan, and introduced new healthy habits for the whole family including cooking from scratch more often and walking to school instead of taking the car.

She says: “My previous attempts at losing weight had left me hungry and irritable so to be honest I expected the same kind of thing. I couldn’t believe it when instead I was cooking food for the whole family – like spaghetti Bolognese, Moroccan tagines with couscous or chilli with homemade chips. No food is banned, there’s hundreds of foods you can eat freely and others are just controlled in different ways to protect your weight loss. And I was losing weight – I lost 7st in 10 months.”

In time, Mary became more active with the help of Slimming World’s physical activity support programme, which helps members to introduce activity levels at their own pace and in a way that fits in with daily routines. She says: “I was quite active when I was younger, although this waned as I grew up. I was so worried about embarrassing myself by being red and out of puff. So instead of joining a gym, I started out by walking, I’d walk Freddie to nursery and then go on to my Slimming World group. I then progressed to running around the block and slowly stepped it up to running a 10K race, which I am so proud of. For Christmas this year my boys even asked for running shoes as they wanted to start coming out for runs with me.”

Mary’s next achievement came when she decided to train to become a Slimming World Consultant. She says: “I felt so positive – full of life and energy – a world away from the person I was before I lost weight. I wanted to bottle this feeling and give it to everyone who had ever struggled with their weight. Becoming a Consultant myself seemed the next logical step.

“I thought losing weight was the best feeling ever, but it turns out that helping others to lose weight is just as rewarding. After having the children, I wanted a job that the flexibility that I could be there for the school runs and the sports days but still have a career that I loved. This is just that!”

And after staying at her target weight for over seven years, people often ask Mary her ‘secret’ to long-term weight loss success. She says: “You have to make a change to your lifestyle. Nobody wants to ‘diet’ for the rest of their lives – yet I want to feel the way I do every day. Eating healthily and exercising is just second nature to me now – and it was my Slimming World group that helped me to get to this point.

“The individual thinking about potential pitfalls that you’re encouraged to do in group, combined with the ideas from the other members, helped me to find what worked for me. It means I don’t feel like I’m missing out and for the first time in my life I’m doing everything I ever dreamed of doing. I’m the fit and active mum that I always wanted to be and that is just the best feeling.”

You can view a video of Mary’s story here.

VITAL STATS:

Name: Mary Watkins
Age: 42
Height: 5ft 5ins/161cm
Starting weight: 17st 1½lbs/239½lbs/108kg    
Current weight: 10st 2lbs/142lbs/64kg
Weight loss: 6st 13½lbs/97½lbs/44kg    
Dress size before: 20
Dress size now: 10
Date joined Slimming World: June 2016
Time at target: Seven years

Group: Mary runs the Crowborough Slimming World group in East Sussex which is held on Thursday and Friday

Before menu
Breakfast: A bowl of sugary cereal
Lunch: Shop-bought baguette, crisps
Dinner: A pizza served with garlic bread
Snacks: Bread, cheese, salami, pate

After menu
Breakfast: Fresh fruit and fat-free natural Greek yogurt, or a grill up breakfast of bacon, eggs and beans at the weekend
Lunch: Poached or scrambled eggs on two slices of wholemeal toast or homemade quiche with a large mixed salad
Dinner: Homemade spaghetti Bolognese or fajita chicken with chilli, refried beans, salsa and taco shells 
Evening: Glass of wine

– ends –

For further information please contact Lucy Fisher in the Slimming World press office on lucy.fisher@slimmingworld.co.uk or on 01773 306852.