Karen is set to re-open the Pound Hill Slimming World group

For every excuse not to do anything about her weight, Karen had ten reasons to do the opposite. Karen's health was suffering. A very busy social life and the constant care needs of both her parents were being hindered by health problems of her own, which led to increased medication and strains on her own body.

With both her parents needing help to do simple chores a few times a week, shopping and carrying bags became a dreaded task. Karen says"I would park in the nearest space, sometimes even waiting for a space to become available, so that I didn't have to ache so much from pushing a trolley to my car and lifting a few bags from the trolley to the boot."

The realisation that weight loss was a must for Karen, came whilst sitting in the hospital with her mum, realising that she was on several of the same medications for health conditions that her mum suffered with. Following in those footsteps, going down the road of diabetes and osteoarthritis, was not a road Karen wanted to travel down.

Karen says: "I've watched my mum have to be lifted from the floor by paramedics because she was overweight, and her ongoing health issues stopped her getting up by herself." With those times constantly on her mind, and the reminder of the medication she was on, Karen knew she didn't want her children to have to see the same things and be the carer for her in the future. Her life HAD to change.

After trying several weight loss methods and self help techniques, all of no avail, Karen needed something that would fit in with her hectic lifestyle, something that she could continue forever and maintain once the weight was coming off.

Slimming World came into Karen’s life in January this year and with the help of Emma, her consultant in Maidenbower, she has found her motivation and success. After being warmly welcomed Karen quickly felt as if she was amongst friends. Nobody judged her and she didn’t feel humiliated at all.

There were people of all shapes and sizes in the room, including men! Emma explained the key points of food optimising, telling Karen that she could eat all her favourite foods and that nothing was off limits. She would still be able to socialise with her friends and lose weight. After staying to group and listening to all the inspiring weight losses and seeing the smiles of delight on members faces, she wanted to be a part of that.

Karen enrolled into the group and spent her first week reading the book, planning meals and writing about how she felt on a daily basis and to her delight, seven days later, had lost a whopping 6 and a half pounds! After just 4 weeks she'd hit her first stone in weight loss. Ten months on and Karen has lost a fantastic 3 stone 7 and a half pounds! Karen has since taken the opportunity to train with the Slimming World academy and has become a consultant herself, opening a group at Pound Hill Infant Academy, Crawley Lane on Wednesday 1st November at 7.30pm

Karen says: "It is so easy to adapt to and I'm not restricted with what I can eat - nothing is forbidden, and best of all, I am never hungry". The help and encouragement that comes from the group each week leaves her with a real buzz and motivation.

Walking through the door in January this year was the best thing Karen ever did.

For more information about joining Karen's group call her on 07711246293.

*If your a current or previous member and would like to find out more about the consultant role get in touch with Hayley on 07735374922*