Woman 'addicted to biscuits' loses 7st by walking her dog every day
A woman who became reluctant to attend social events due to her weight lost 7st in nine months, all through diet changes and walking.
Jane Mews, 63, weighed in at 15st 3lbs before she made her lifestyle changes, and says she was addicted to biscuits, chocolate, and crisps.
"I'd always try to make excuses to not take the dogs for a walk because I found it tough," Mews, from Bubwith, Yorkshire, said.
"It would leave me in pain and I always felt so guilty. The times I did try I'd be really sweaty and out of breath.
"One day something just clicked, and I knew that I couldn't carry on this way. Cutting out snacks and taking the dogs out all the time has changed my life. My dogs were a huge motivator for me as without them, I may not of made the change."
Mews made the decision to change in October 2022. By this point, she had spent years struggling with her weight since having kids and becoming a community nurse, the later she says which made her weight "spiral out of control".
"I wasn't working on a ward so I wasn't as active," she explains. "I'd get a meal deal every day, and munch on bags of crisps and chocolate.
"I was always snacking and didn't pay much attention to what I was eating. When I'd get home from work, I'd have a cup of tea with biscuits and spend the evening on the sofa.
"I knew I wasn't happy and that I needed to lose weight but I didn't have the drive to make a change."
The mum-of-three says she even stopped shopping as she was too embarrassed to try on clothes.
"It wasn't just walking the dogs I couldn't do," she adds. "I would miss out on social events because I hated how I looked. On family holidays to Cornwall, I'd act like I wasn't interested in coastal walks because I knew I couldn't keep up.
"It was a vicious cycle and I almost convinced myself that I was just meant to be overweight."
Mews joined the weight loss group LighterLife, which she says encouraged her to develop a new routine and ditch the snacks.
Before her weight loss, Mews would eat muesli for breakfast with toast as a late morning snack, a sandwich and packet of crisps for lunch, a meal such as a shepherds pie for dinner, and chocolate and biscuits as snacks.
Now, she has porridge for breakfast, salad for lunch, and lean meats like chicken and fish with vegetables for dinner. If she has a snack it will most likely be fruit.
"When I started to lose weight, I looked at my diet beforehand and realised I was eating 3,000 calories a day," she says.
"My only bit of exercise was walking the dogs three or four times a week because I physically couldn't do any more. But when I started to eat healthier, I realised that I actually could do more exercise if I took better care of myself.
"I now walk my dogs daily for an hour-and-a-half, sometimes longer, and that makes me feel a lot better. I've become more confident and I love shopping for clothes - something I thought I'd never enjoy."
Additional reporting by SWNS.
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