Success Stories: Maria
Maria, 34
Maria spent her adult life with her weight and health fluctuating. But she found a way to make a permanent change.
When I first joined Weight Watchers, it only took me seven months to lose 3st and transform from a self-conscious size 14 to super-confident size 8. My weight had yo-yoed for most of my adult life and yet, the answer had been there all along: a plan that was easy, doable, pain-free – and gave great results!
But becoming pregnant with my first child weeks after reaching goal, I developed serious cravings for croissants and chocolate bars. And so, three weeks after giving birth to my son Cillian, I was back where I’d started and weighed 13st again. This time I knew what to do. I’d just moved from the UK back to my home country of Sweden and was grateful that Weight Watchers was global and not just UK-based. I joined a local meeting and my husband Patrick and I adjusted the plan to suit our new family life, choosing simpler recipes with shorter cooking times. In five months, I’d done it again: lost 3st and reached goal.
‘When I fell pregnant the second time, I suffered from SPD – symphysis pubis dysfunction – and had to leave work three months early due to the pain. Around the same time, my father passed away, which was terribly difficult. Feeling helpless, I turned to pastries and chocolate for comfort and ballooned back to my original weight.
It was time for me to return to Weight Watchers. The new holistic approach to losing weight made complete sense to me, and it provided me with a way to make small changes that would lead to a permanent shift in my relationship with food. Whenever doubt crept in, there was a little voice in my head saying, ‘You can do this.’
It took me 11 months to reach goal, the stubborn last 7lb taking nearly half that entire time to shift, but I did it – again! I was so happy to be back in my own body. I plan on remaining this size for a long time. And while you never know what life will throw your way, I’m not worried.