I was so fat my kids couldn't hug me... now I feel fantastic!

Ally McGilvray • Published 31 Dec 2009 09:13 2 Comments

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IT is one of the most common of New Year's resolutions.

But a mum-of-two from Galashiels has revealed losing weight has changed her life - because her children can now give her a proper hug.

Twenty-eight-year-old Tracy McMullen, of Riddle Dumble Park, is half the woman she used to be after shedding almost 10 stones in just under a year.

She decided to diet after she ballooned to more than 21 stones and became too big for her children, Keiran, 8, and Ellie, 4, to wrap their arms around.

However, now weighing a healthy 12 stone 3lbs and boasting a new slim-line figure, she explained she feels like a different person and pointed out some of her friends no longer recognise her.

Speaking to the Border Telegraph this week, Tracy, who has thrown out most of her old clothes and bought a whole new wardrobe after fighting the flab and shrinking from a 28-30 to a 12-14 dress size, said: "I feel fantastic.

"I've got a lot more energy to run about after the kids now and, when they cuddle me, they can get their arms all the way round my stomach to give me a proper hug.

"I've halved my dress size in the past eight months and can now buy whatever I want to wear. I actually had lots of going out clothes that I never got a chance to try on because I lost the weight so quickly."

But she added: "A lot of people don't recognise me now. Even the other day the woman at the checkout in Asda said: 'You look a lot like your sister' and I replied: 'I don't have a sister'. She asked: 'Are you not Tracy's sister?' And I was like: 'I am Tracy!'"

The former Galashiels Academy pupil revealed she only realised how much weight she had piled on after leaving school when her family showed her pictures of her cutting the cake at her 27th birthday party last year.

However, despite losing three stones in 12 months by herself after making a resolution to lose weight and get fit in the New Year, she quickly regained the weight and claimed she always felt hungry until she ditched all the fad diets and joined a new healthy eating programme with Slimming World in Galashiels in April this year.

Now she revealed she hopes to reach her target weight by losing another 11lbs before her 29th birthday at the end of next month.

Tracy, who weighed 21 stones and 8lbs at the start of 2009, said: "When I saw the photos of me cutting the cake I got such a shock and decided I didn't want to look like that any more. I felt awful.

"I followed every plan going - the Atkins diet, the cabbage soup diet and all the fad diets. I would look them up on the computer and last a couple of weeks or days, and then binge on a whole tin of chocolate biscuits because they left me feeling so hungry, before moving on to the next one."

But she added: "When I started Slimming World I began losing weight healthily. I think the difference is you can actually eat, whereas on other diets I had used all my points before dinner time and by then I was starving. The healthy eating programme allowed me so many 'sins' a day and I think I can get away with four without putting on weight now."

With Slimming World's food optimising eating plan, Tracy found she could eat as much fruit and veg, pasta, rice, potatoes, lean meat and eggs as she fancied and still lose weight. She also began to gradually introduce activity into her life, making the gym and Body combat classes part of her routine.

"When I walked in for the first weigh in I felt like I was the biggest person there. My mum and dad thought I'd give it another two weeks so they were really surprised that I have stuck with it," she said.

"I got my six stone award two weeks ago and I'm hoping to get my seven stone award for my birthday at the end of January.

"I thought I would miss mince pies over Christmas but I haven't. The hardest time for me was when I put on a pound-and-a-half in the second week. I thought about not going back because I didn't think it was working. I was just about crying when I phoned my sister-in-law but she gave me the encouragement to keep going.

"I've had three gains in all that time but I have consistently lost weight week after week. There was one week when I went in and I had lost nine pounds. I don't know how I managed it. If i did I would have reached my target weight already."

Now a picture of health, Tracy now has ambitions of becoming a Slimming World consultant - a job she would never have had the confidence to do before. And she hopes to inspire other people considering losing weight and getting fit in 2010.

She said: "I would advise anyone to try it, you're almost guaranteed to lose weight if you stick to the plan. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

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CathyHortin
Unregistered User
Dec 31, 18:22
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Really well done Tracy, I run the Slimming World class in Earlston on a Wednesday night at 7pm at the Earlston Primary School and in the last 10 weeks my members have lost over 40 stone, proof that the Slimming World eating plans really do work.

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Tracy McMullen
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Dec 31, 19:31
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Thank you Cathy. I met you a few weeks ago when you took Fiona's group for the day =) Well done to the group in Earlston that's a fabulous loss!!!

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