Shrewsbury woman loses 11 stone - and cures her diabetes

Ruth Irwin, 67, said she went through a lifetime of fad diets and liposuction but struggled to keep weight off.

She eventually joined a slimming class – WW, formerly Weight Watchers and really saw the weight disappear – effectively.

Ruth said: “I have always thought that it should be about who you are as a person, not what you look like, but as the years have passed, and various health problems, the light bulb moment happened for me.

“At my largest, in around 2014, I was around 26 stone. I managed to lose some weight but it wasn’t until I had to have a hip replacement in 2016 and I was weighing in at 23 stone 10lbs that I thought about losing weight for my health.

“By April 2017, I had got down to 20 stone 7lbs but I needed help and I plucked up the courage to join a WW studio.

“I joined Carol Lewis’s studio at Sundorne in Shrewsbury. In my first six weeks I lost one stone and by October 2017 I had lost two-and-a-half stone ready for my son’s wedding.”

'The new me is here to stay'

Ruth said she felt better than ever and had more energy, and when she moved house in February 2018 she joined a different studio. Her weight loss continued impressively, and from her starting point she reached 15 stone 1lb.

She has since gone back to work after being retired for three-and-a-half years.

Ruth said: “Deep inside I was unhappy, but that person is gone, and the new me is here to stay. I no longer have to ask for an extension for the seatbelts on planes, I can also get the tray down.

“The main change that my weight loss has contributed to is that my health has been impacted massively.

"I went to the doctors and am so pleased to have been able to come off all of my type 2 diabetes medication that I’ve been on for seven years. I’ve also not taken blood pressure medication for 12 months.

"I love that the Freestyle plan from WW has impacted my whole life – I no longer eat for comfort and have a far better relationship with food.”