A chance encounter at a pharmacy changed her life

A mum has revealed how a chance encounter with a friend in a pharmacy helped her shed more than four stone.

Linda Underwood was in a local chemist when she bumped into a woman she used to attend a slimming group with.

The 59-year-old, from the Weaverham area of Cheshire, noticed her friend had lost a lot of weight and asked whether she was still a group member.

The lady told mum-of-two Linda, who weighed around 12st 8lbs at the time, she had actually started attending a local group called Beeweighed.

Keen to slim down for her upcoming holiday to Gran Canaria, housewife Linda decided to sign up to sessions the very next morning.

Linda, who previously fit into size 18 clothes, had hoped to lose a pound a week in the run up to her trip – totalling 9lbs by the time it came around.

Incredibly, the mum went on to lose a whopping 4st 5lbs – leaving her finally feeling comfortable in her own skin.

Linda, who now tips the scales at 8st 2lbs and is a dress size 8, told the Manchester Evening News: “I was tired of being overweight.

“My husband Paul and I had booked a holiday to go to Gran Canaria towards the end of April. I’d gone into the chemist by my doctors and met someone who used to attend a former slimming group I once went to.

“She looked super slim and I asked her if she was still at the same group. She said no, that she’d joined Beeweighed, and I decided that night I’d go to the meeting the morning after.”

Alongside calorie counting, Linda also took up running, signing up to fitness app Couch to 5K not long after she joined the group.

Linda was able to complete a full 5k just a few weeks after starting the hobby. She now does parkruns every weekend with her husband Paul.

But she says one superfood has also