Lesley Wilkinson from Carnoustie admits that she buried her head in the sand for years and didn’t really pay attention to her weight.
‘I would never actually look at myself in the mirror, not properly look, and it’s only when I look back at the few photographs I have of me at the time that I realise how much of an issue my weight was,’
The mum of two at her heaviest weighed 16 stone 13lbs and says before losing weight she ached, had no energy and felt frumpy, ‘I hated how I felt, I had no self-confidence whatsoever.’
You could call it Lesley’s year of change, where everything just clicked and it was time to make a few important decisions to improve her health and well-being.
‘To start off I had a dental brace fitted, after years of problems with my teeth I had decided to get them sorted once and for all. I realised that if I was going to sort my smile I really needed to sort my weight too.’
One of her work colleagues mentioned Scottish Slimmers and Lesley quickly found her footing with the weight she had been carrying falling off, ‘The plan was so easy to follow and I was motivated to succeed.’
Already delighted, Lesley soon found another opportunity came knocking which only made her weight loss journey seem easier, ‘I started a new job which meant I was no longer sitting behind a desk and I was moving around so much more. This gave me yet another boost and helped me stay on track.’
And if all of that wasn’t enough Lesley soon had another motivating factor that made her more determined than ever to shed the stones and change her life, ‘My husband booked us a trip to New York and Las Vegas for our wedding anniversary.’
‘By the time the holiday came around I was only a few lbs from my Target and we had a great time!’
Lesley is thankful she made the decision to lose weight when she did otherwise she admits she would never have managed to keep up the pace on holiday or keep pace with her children!
‘Since losing weight I have so much more energy and motivation to do new things, I have even taken up skiing lessons, something my daughter has been badgering me to do for such a long time!’
These days Lesley is a brand new person, 6 stone 9 ½ lbs lighter, 6 dress sizes slimmer and a whole lot of adventures later.
‘Losing weight has changed my perspective on life, I’m now grabbing hold of it with two hands rather than sitting on the sidelines, and I have never been happier!’