I LOST 9st AND SAID YES TO THE DRESS!

Jane Watson, 60, feels the best version of herself

- LUCY LAING, ELAINE HAYWARD

The sun was shining as I stood outside the church, smiling for the camera. It was September 2023, and it had been such a lovely day at my cousin's baby's christening - full of joy, chatter and cake. I'd made a big effort, wearing a floaty yellow-green floral wrap dress in a size 22, and for once, I genuinely thought I looked nice.

But the next day, when the photos appeared in the family WhatsApp chat, my stomach dropped. I barely recognised the woman in the pictures. I looked huge.

I'd always been an emotional eater and had yo-yo dieted on and off for years. When I met my partner Andy, then 44, in 2009, I was a size 16 to 18 and 5ft 9in, but he loved me at any size.

We'd both been married before and agreed that we didn't need to do it again. We were happy as we were, enjoying our nice little routine of pub meals and cosy nights in with a takeaway.

Most days, I'd skip breakfast, work all day at my healthcare job with barely a bite to eat, then come home ravenous. Then Andy and I would head to the pub for bar snacks and something indulgent like a katsu curry or fish and chips, washed down with a few glasses of wine.

The weight crept on and by the start of 2019 I was my heaviest, at 22st and a size 24.

I felt permanently exhausted, my knees ached and I'd been put on blood pressure medication.

Desperate to change, I joined Slimming World that January. I stuck to the same meals like Weetabix and berries for breakfast and chicken salad for lunch. I didn't embrace the full variety of foods on the plan, but I still did brilliantly, losing 9st 7lb.