AN ELLESMERE Port woman has spoken about how losing six stone has ‘given her a life back’.

For Sharon Penman, her biggest dream was to be able to reduce the amount of pain she suffers in her back.

Mrs Penman, suffers with ostio arthritis as well as scoliosis of the spine, wanted to help ease her the toll of her health-related issues and gain a better quality of life by eating healthier and losing weight effectively - this was her main reason for joining her local Slimming World group in Wolverham.

Sharon told the Standard how her weight hugely limited her mobility. She said that before her weight loss she was unable to walk into the group unaided, always having her walker with her and unable to go anywhere without it.

After a long journey, Sharon’s determination and commitment to attending the group each week paid off this Christmas, which resulted in her achieving not one but two slimming awards on Christmas Eve 2019.

One of these awards came for achieving her personal target – which Sharon decided upon when she joined the group in 2016.

Slimming World groups also give awards to members at every half stone weight increment of their weight loss – meaning Sharon also bagged a separate award for dropping six stone since first stepping on the scales in January.

Sharon said that she still enjoyed an active social life, still enjoyed going out and also enjoyed the odd drop of her favourite tipple - rum.

She has thanked her Slimming World consultant, Christine Robinson-Lloyd, for supporting her on her journey and giving her a life back and boosting her self-belief.

Sharon added that she is due to have an operation to straighten my spine that, paired with losing six stone through Slimming World, gives Sharon hope of being able to finally walk unaided.

Christine, who runs Wolverham Slimming World group in Ellesmere Port and has worked as a Consultant for three and a half years, says that with the rise of trendy fad diets people are often seduced by the promise of faster weight losses and fad quick fix diets to lose weight. However, these methods to losing weight aren’t sustainable long term.

She said: “Who wants to feel hungry all the time or feel deprived by giving up on your favourite foods indefinitely? Especially when that often means that by February those New Year’s Resolutions are a distant memory. So this New Year, take a leaf out of Sharon’s book, and make a commitment to yourself, to stick with a successful slimming experience, by joining us at Slimming World and in 12 months’ time or even sooner, you too could be achieving you’re weight loss dreams.”

“Sharon’s 2019 Resolution was that she would reach her goal weight this year. She totally kick started her dreams by committing to being at group each week, even when she had not had the best of weeks as this really helped her to see where she was at and refocus for the week ahead, putting in plans to ensure the following week was a success.”

The Wolverham Slimming World Group is held every Tuesday at 7.30am, 9.30am, 5pm and 7pm at Wolverham Community Centre in Cheltenham Road, Ellesmere Port.

For further information, contact Christine on 07974 145061.