A WOMAN from Dumfries and Galloway has improved her health after a huge weight loss.
Fiona Neilson from Dalbeattie, has gone from a size 28 to a size 14 and says she’s both happier and healthier now.
Overweight for most of her adult life, Fiona weighed 26 stone at her heaviest and suffered a lack of energy and breathlessness – above.
It came to a head in 2018 when she experienced terrible chest pain and was diagnosed with severe heart failure, cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation.
Fiona said: “I knew that if I didn’t do something now, I wouldn’t have much longer to live. My health was so poor that just walking about the house left me breathless.”
However, she found it really demoralising trying to lose weight on her own so apprehensively decided to attend Slimming World with a friend. Soon she was on their ‘food optimising plan’ and couldn’t believe that no food was off the menu. After the first week, to her astonishment, she had lost 5lbs.
“The encouragement I have received from Jo (my consultant) and my fellow members has been life changing for me and I love that I can celebrate their successes along with mine,” said Fiona, whose BMI has dropped from over 50 to less than 30, while her heart failure is no longer classified as severe.
She added: “Although I will always have problems with my heart, I can now enjoy walking the dog on the beach and other activities with my family.”
