Zoey's loss is her gain

She has lost 11 stones through sensible eating, regular exercise, and sheer determination, and in just a year gone from being clinically morbidly obese to training for the London marathon.

A 31 year old mother-of-four, Zoe is now enjoying life in ways she never thought possible and looking forward to new challenges and experiences, from buying trendy clothes in the high street to going on adventure days with her children, and is even hoping for a future career in the fitness industry.

Zoey, who lives in Preston Road, has achieved all this by herself and says she feels “proud” but admits its been hard work.

She said: “I do feel great now I have lost the weight – I was 24 stones. I went to my doctor because I was having lots of problems such as chaps and sores, and palpitations. I was in bad health, and depressed, and the GP said to me all this was because I was fat. He was very open in his talking. I was shocked. But it was my weight holding me back in all aspects of my life.”

This was the trigger for Zoey making the decision to lose weight and although she could not afford to join a slimming club, and didn’t want to, she committed to a monthly weigh-in at the surgery to monitor her progress.

Her GP even suggested taking the step of having a gastric band but Zoey didn’t want to do this because of the long-lasting impact of this type of surgery for weight reduction.

As it was, Zoey did it her way, working out for herself which foods to eat and in what quantity, and joined Freedom Leisure where she began daily exercise and found new friends to encourage and support her.

“I am proud though I still feel a bit self-conscious,” said Zoey.

“My confidence is not as good as it used to be and I am still not quite where I want to be – I am aiming at losing another two stones, but I am running the London marathon in April so I hope that will sort the rest of it out.

“I come to the gym every day and run every evening.

“I really enjoy it.”

Zoey had been overweight since she was 12 years old and says she wasted years of her life not doing anything about it othr than feeling miserable about herself. She promised herself to lose the weight if she started suffering health problems or when she turned 30, and when both those milestones passed knew it was time to get started.

“I realised I was wasting my life. I felt I had missed the best years of my life by being overweight, because it always held me back. I wouldn’t go out, and I wouldn’t socialise. I would never have dreamed of going to the gym, but coming here and making new friendships here has kept me coming back.”

Having lost so much weight Zoey is now having fun in seeing how much slimmer she has become – for instance she can zip up easily the boots her partner Richard gave her as a present but which never fitted her before, and the belt she wore for New Year 2010 looks like it would fit around her twice.

She remembers how her weight made her feel “very lonely” but that’s now in the past as she progresses and new possibilities open out, such as fulfilling a lifelong dream to learn to ride a motorbike.

Her children love the change in her, but she stresses that though she ate unhealthily herself she always knew what was good for them and what they should eat, in contrast to her own family life when it was normal to enjoy an early dinner then a takeaway just a few hours later.

Otherwise though there’s been no secret other than her determination.

“I have worked hard,” said Zoey.

“I have done everything on my own. I researched my own nutrition, and when I started I couldn’t afford to go to clubs and things, so it is all just down to sensible diet.”

Sadie Yapp, of Freedom Leisure, commented: “We’ve watched Zoey going past and she is literally disappearing in front of us.

“She is so self-disciplined that she comes every day and she uses the gym, she does circuit training and different classes, but she is using the whole facility to achieve what she wanted to achieve. Zoey has shown her commitment and we have shown our commitment to her. She is here every day – without fail. She is a brilliant advocate for us.”