Treeton mum loses 10 stone in two years thanks to Slimming World

Shirley Clarke, of Treeton, lost ten stone 1.5lbs, dropping from 19 stone 9lbs — dress size 20/22 to 10/12 — and has been able to undergo successful knee replacement surgery to remove the pain she suffered from osteoarthritis.

Shirley’s asthma would see her get out of breath walking short distances and she would have to use an inhaler to take her medication.

The 63-year-old student support worker at Sheffield Hallam University said: “ I knew I was well overweight. In lockdown I was putting on weight as a lot of other people were, but I was putting on more.

“It had never entered my head to join Slimming World and you never think it’s going to work but I spoke to my daughter and my mind was ready.”

She lost 4.5lbs in the first week of her programme and said: “Once the changes start you want it more — it’s like a hunger.”

Shirley commended the support she received from the group as a key factor in her weight loss journey and has stayed on to “encourage others and show them that it actually is possible”.

She said: “Before, I’d have packets of sweets open on the table while I was working and would drink one or two glasses of wine at night on a weekend depending on how stressful work was — just constantly eating rubbish.”

Shirley is keen to point out that “it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle”.

She added: “There is so much choice in Slimming World’s Food Optimiser to make meals that I don’t have a favourite.

“My family have also enjoyed the meals so there is no need to make different ones for everyone else as it’s real food.

“You wouldn’t think you could lose weight eating like this, but you can.

“Going round the shops and looking at smaller clothes sizes, being able to walk — silly things that I couldn’t do before — they make you feel good about yourself and mean more than you would think.”

She has recently won the group’s Greatest Loser competition and achieved Club 50 status for losing 50 per cent of her starting weight — an award only a few members across South Yorkshire have received.

Caroline Hawson, Shirley’s consultant at Treeton, said: “With ten stone gone Shirley has the biggest spring in her step, literally! She no longer needs her sticks or help to get on the scales.

“With the belief in Food Optimising and her added activity, it’s completely changed her life.

“I’m so glad she walked through my doors and that I’ve played a small part in helping Shirley change her lifestyle.”