Bride Amanda loses six stone ahead of big day
HAVING battled with her weight since she was a teenager, Amanda Hopwood was jolted into action after warnings from her GP that the extra pounds were seriously damaging her health. But she had an added incentive to stay on the straight and narrow – she was determined to slim down for her wedding and be the centre of attention for all the right reasons.
Amanda weighed more than 16 stone when her alarmed doctor prescribed a 12-week membership of WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers, in March last year.
“I had always yo-yoed with my weight,” she admitted. “I tried countless diets over the years, and I would lose weight but then put it all back on again as soon as I stopped.
“My main problem was comfort eating. I have a disabled son and looking after him can be stressful at times. I was always picking and snacking.
“The extra weight made me quite poorly. I have hypermobility syndrome, which means I suffer from trapped nerves. It can be very painful and being overweight didn’t help that.”
Amanda (45) dropped an incredible five dress sizes, going from a size 20 to a size 10, and walked down the aisle in her dream fifties-style wedding dress.
Sewed into that dress was a tiny piece of pink material only she knew was there, which represented a whole new beginning with her husband John.
The scrap came from a pair of pink shorts Amanda had been determined to eventually get into, and she lost so much weight they ended up being too big for her.
“I was so delighted with what I’d achieved that I sewed a tiny piece of those shorts into my dress as a reminder,” said Amanda.
“As I walked down the aisle I smiled, knowing it was there and what it meant. There was no way I wanted to be a huge fat whale on my wedding day. I wanted to look beautiful in my dress and I did!”
Amanda admitted she had tried and failed to diet in the past, so when she was referred to WW she did not hold out much hope she would be successful.
But after going to her first meeting in Lymington she was surprised by how simple the system was and how easily it fitted into her lifestyle.
“Food is counted in points, not calories,” she said. “You have a set amount a week, and certain foods like vegetables are zero points so I would fill up on those. I was amazed at how much I was allowed to eat.
“I also really enjoyed the meetings. I’d been to dieting clubs in the past and hated the ‘fat shaming’ when your weight was read out loudly to the group.
“There is none of that any more – it’s such a positive, friendly atmosphere. Everyone is so supportive, and I looked forward to the meetings. I still go now to help me maintain my loss.”
Amanda immediately set herself the goal of fitting into a size 10 dress for her wedding.
“I knew it was ambitious,” she said. “But I just couldn’t bear the thought of everyone looking at me as a fat bride - I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy myself.
“John loved me as I was but he knew how much losing weight meant to me, so he supported me all the way.
“Meals we made at home became a lot healthier, but we still managed to have a treat like a takeaway or meal out once a week. If you save up enough extra points during the week you can use them to do that. If I fancied a bit of pizza I could have it, or a Chinese. I still got to live my life.
“And I could still have a proper social life – if I went out I made sure I had enough points to have a couple of gin and sodas.”
Amanda said she found the WW app especially helpful, allowing her to scan bar codes on food packaging to find out instantly how many points the item contained. It also offers exercise routines, some with a live coach, and inspiration for improving your mental wellbeing. “From the beginning I started to lose weight,” recalled Amanda.
“Also, my relationship with food totally changed; I wasn’t comfort eating anymore, that habit was totally gone.
“As I lost more and more weight my health really improved. Before I had trouble walking very far, but it became a lot easier and walking upstairs was no problem.
“My confidence also grew, I felt so much better about myself in all ways. As my weight went down, I started to change the way I dressed. Going shopping when I was so big wasn’t enjoyable at all, it was literally jeans and a black t-shirt.
“Now I’ve got a whole new wardrobe, and I go for bright clothes that show off my shape – I’ve worked hard to get like this! We went to Spain on honeymoon and I wore a swimming costume!”
Sue Melluish, Amanda’s WW coach at Lymington, said wellness is promoted and very much a part of the company’s ethos.
“I hardly recognise Amanda from the person who walked through the door a year ago with back and joint pain,” she said. “She got out of breath climbing the stairs, no clothes fitted her, and she hated how she looked!
“A year later she looks and sounds like a different person and I am so proud of her.”
Sue continued: “I think Amanda had had bad experiences in the past with diet clubs. But the focus with WW is not just on weight loss – it’s about becoming healthier and happier. We have a wellness check-in in which members can say how they are feeling.
“If they feel down they are more likely to eat sugar and fat. But telling them that exercise will release endorphins which will improve their mood helps and makes them less likely to cheat.
“Success used to be so much about the weight loss, but now it’s a more holistic approach with wellness and exercise a big part of the programme.”
Amanda and John were married at St.Mark’s Church in Pennington. “Our budget was small but we managed to have the most amazing day thanks to the generosity of people,” she said.
“I appealed for second-hand wedding dresses on Facebook, and these six ladies came forward with beautiful ones which I used to design my own fifties-style gown.
“They each told me their story about their own dresses and there was laughter and a few tears - it made my dress feel so special, having a piece of each of theirs.
“We also had help with the catering, the decorations, the flowers, the photography – it really was a communal wedding, which felt absolutely wonderful.”
She met John (39) at her local pub. “Meeting him was like walking into a warm hug,” she said.
“It was a leap year when I proposed. He has made such a massive difference to my life. He is so proud of what I have achieved, and me being so much healthier has meant we can do a lot more; simple things like going for a long walk.
“I would say to anyone out there who has weight to lose, just go for it! Go to a meeting. I was so nervous before my first one; terrified. But it was such a positive, genuine atmosphere I felt good from that day on.”
Looking at her wedding photos, Amanda cannot stop grinning. “I used to avoid a camera when I was big,” she said. “I am going to display these all around our home.”
WW sessions are held at the Lymington Centre in New Street every Tuesday at 6.30pm and on Wednesdays at 9.30am. Alternatively, groups are held at Wistaria Surgery’s river suite in Avenue Road on Fridays at 11.30am.
