'I never ate vegetables and my weight spiralled to size 30 - this is how I lost eight stone'

Approaching her 50th birthday, Samantha Spendlow knew it was the milestone she needed to turn her life around for good.

The mum-of-three had tried endless diet and exercise plans over the years but nothing seemed to shift her weight – seeing her balloon to over 20 stone.

The 49-year-old, from Wilmslow, would always skip breakfast and lunch and instead snack on biscuits, chocolate and unhealthy ready meals throughout the day. At her heaviest, she was a dress size 30.

READ MORE: 'The terrifying brush with death that made me go from a size 30 to a size 16'

Desperate for a healthy lifestyle, she joined Slimming World in January 2022 and watched as the pounds dropped off – eventually shedding eight stone and becoming a size 12.

“I woke up on New Year’s Day last year and decided I didn’t want to hit 50 being fat,” she said. “I was really sceptical about joining [Slimming World], I’m not a people person.

“I thought the group would be happy-clappy and that I would feel totally uncomfortable in that situation, but I was wrong.”

Not only did Samantha transform her physical health, her mental health began to improve too – with her new-found confidence seeing her get a promotion at work.

Samantha, 49, now has her dream job as a head teacher at a primary school in Sale. “After building my confidence in group and recognising the changes I had made, I now knew I was capable of achieving anything and went for it,” she said.

"I knew my weight was holding me back, stopping me from being the confident version of me I so desperately wanted to bring out.

“Feeling that others could make assumptions about me, my size and judging my ability on my weight this is something that made me judge myself and would on many occasions knock my