Carron slimmer Yvonne McArthur is half the woman she was thanks to Slimming World

The mum-of-three has managed to lose weight previously, having shed eight stones in both her 30s and 40s. But tragedy three years ago, followed by the pandemic lockdown, found her struggling to shift the excess stones.

Her devoted husband Hugh, died suddenly in November 2019, aged only 50, after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Yvonne and her school-age children were still struggling to come to terms with their loss when the country was placed into lockdown.

She said: "This gave me the ideal excuse to revert to previous bad eating habits and to pile on the pounds – six stones actually.”

A lead project consultant with a financial services firm, when her employer closed their office so she was permanently working from her Carron home, it meant she “could hide away from the outside world and not face up to the huge amounts of weight I had accumulated”.

Although she had lost weight previously without attending a class, this time around she found it more difficult. “I honestly didn’t think I would benefit from standing on scales in front of a group,” she said. ”But this time I just couldn’t do it myself, and it was depressing me how much of my previous life, and the things that I enjoyed, I was hiding away from because of my out of control weight and size. Every simple activity was getting more difficult for me and my family were worried about my health.”

When a friend suggested they both go to the local Slimming World class, conveniently situated yards from her home, Yvonne agreed. And from that first visit in September 2021 she was hooked.

"The local group was run by Claire Aitkenhead, who I remembered from my school days, and she warmly welcomed us. I was impressed right from the start with her no nonsense approach as she enthusiastically ran through the food optimising regime and it sounded great. I love all fruit and veg, and the free food gave me lots of choices and without any restrictions on quantity. It felt liberating to eat with such freedom. The first few weeks took a bit of practice, constantly checking food to make sure it was free and stocking up on favourite food and recipes. Soon I was comfortable cooking SW meals for the whole family, just adding extras to their plate, whilst filling mine with extra speed foods."

From her starting weight of 19st 4.5lbs, Yvonne’s initial target was once again to lose eight stones, which she achieved in ten months. Then she decided to give herself another challenge of dropping her weight down to 10 stones, but then she heard of Slimming World’s Club 50 award for all those who lose 50 per cent of their starting weight.

"I finally achieved that a few weeks ago when I reached 9st 9lbs and I feel great. I’m only 5 feet 2ins so it’s made a huge difference. I go to the gym every day and do lots of walking. Being able to fit into size eight clothes is amazing.

"I’ve achieved all this in just 14 months – losing this weight has not only changed my life but has saved my life.”