Weight Watchers success story

It all began in January 2010 when after looking at photographs of myself taken at our staff Christmas party, I was horrified, enough was enough.

I joined my local Weight Watchers meeting in Ballymoney on the first Thursday morning in January and I have never looked back. Initially my reaction was I am the only man in the class but after a couple of weeks, I thought nothing of it because at the end of the day we were all there to do the same thing

Jackie, my Weight Watchers leader, welcomed me, weighed me and gave me my programme, I remember just standing looking at her and thinking to myself, is that what weight I am! The rest is history. I stayed for my class had the programme explained to me and away I went. I followed the programme and my weight started to come off.

Along my journey like everyone I had my bad days and weeks but I was so determined to lose weight I didn’t let it stop me. If I had a bad week I needed my meetings, I never missed a class and I always stayed as I found that the tips that you get from class really motivated me for the incoming week. Unfortunately due to my weight I was experiencing health problems and I knew due to past history in my family I had to do something about it and thankfully since losing my weight my problems have all gone and that in itself makes me feel great

When I look back at my journey and think where I was, it scares me to think, why did I let myself get like this. Don’t think you are the only person that has to lose weight, you’re not and everybody is there to help each other. The support that you get from your Weight Watchers leader is fantastic and I would like to thank Jackie Lawrence for all the support and encouragement that she gave me on my own personal journey and also a big thank you to my family

The difference it has made to me as a person is unbelievable, although I was an outgoing person anyway I have found that i am even more confident than before and as I am a service customer assistant I am dealing with the public all the time and the encouragement that I got from them kept be motivated

A lot of people think to lose weight you have to do a lot of exercise. When I joined Weight Watchers I was unable to do any, so I focused totally on my programme and then knew when it was right for me to try exercise and now I look forward to getting out for my walks and would now go swimming occasionally. Shopping for clothes is now a pleasure, I used to hide in the changing room and would have been embarrassed to ask for a bigger size, now I am proud to ask out loud for the smaller size, I can now wear what I want to wear, not what I had to wear.

Tips that I would share with other people reading my story:-

Take the first step and join your local weightwatchers class, there are mixed classes and men only, never miss your class, stay for your meetings, track everything you eat and drink, enjoy your journey as you are certainly not on a diet it’s just a change in your eating habits I always looked at it as a long-term healthy eating plan and it has certainly been a success and I would recommend it to everyone.