Cramlington mum credits Slimming World after dropping eight stone and avoiding surgery

Kerrie Arthur, aged 46, is a mother of two who felt inspired to join Slimming World and adopt a healthier lifestyle after suffering with health problems and having worries that her daughter was being bullied for having a ‘fat mam’.

She said: “I took my daughter to school and I heard another child say to her 'your mam is so fat’. I saw the look on her face, how sad she looked, and decided right there and then that my child wasn't going to get bullied for having a fat mam.

"I also suffer with asthma and it was so out of control struggled to breathe at the slightest bit of exercise. I have a bad back too which the weight was causing excruciating pain, I was dosed up on painkillers all day every day.

“I could hardly bend down to fasten my shoe laces let alone do any exercise without being in pain and breathless. I constantly had my inhaler at hand and now I very rarely use it.”

Kerrie described how she avoided a serious operation on her back thanks to her weight loss journey, taking her from a size 24 to a size 12. She said: “I was told from my consultant that I would be needing on operation on my back in the very near future, I have 2 bulging discs in my back which compresses a nerve.

“But, because I've lost all that weight it has relieved the pressure off my back and the bulging discs have actually shrunk meaning as long as I keep my weight off I won't be needing the operation anytime soon.”

Kerrie credits the support she receives through Slimming World as a big factor in her achievements: “The people who attend are such a friendly bunch many have been attending the same group for years too. There’s no judgement whatsoever we support each other regardless of the results on the scales.

"There is lots of encouragement and praise which definitely spurs me on. There’s always people sharing new recipes and ideas and we always have such a laugh too.”