Mum took action after festive woe

THIS time last year Tricia Barratt was thoroughly fed up.

It was approaching Christmas and she had been ill in bed with a severe bout of flu for four weeks.

Then a chest infection triggered an asthma attack and she was placed on a course of steroids.

The 51-year-old, who was diagnosed with asthma when she was aged five, decided to take action.

"I felt terrible and I think my weight made me feel even worse," says Tricia, of William Road, Kidsgrove. "It really frightened me.

"Christmas is my favourite time of the year and I was really looking forward to it. It's a big thing in my family. We all visit each other and we all like being together.

"With being poorly, I was really down. I almost thought that was going to be it, because I was so ill."

Tricia, whose two children are 25-year-old Christopher and 23-year-old Michael, had tried out several diets.

But her sudden severe illness shocked her into making some permanent lifestyle changes.

And this time she was determined to stick to her plan. Weighing in at 19 stones 13½lbs, she enrolled in her local Slimming World class in January.

"I'd devoted myself to my family and the pounds just piled on over the years," she says. "I started struggling with my weight just after my sons were born, but I brought them up on my own and I think you end up falling into a rut.

"I ate things that were convenient – stuff that kids enjoy. I'd start off in the morning with three rounds of toast. Come dinnertime, I'd have chips with pizza or eggs and beans and for my tea. I'd have whatever the children had.

"I'd snack on crisps and biscuits in between. Sometimes I wasn't even hungry, I was just eating.

"After trying out diets over the years, I'd find I'd lose a couple of stones and feel alright, but as soon as I'd finish I'd put it on, plus some more.

"I've done everything including the Cambridge diet about 25 years ago. It was the first liquid diet and I was only allowed to have a drink and some chocolate bars. I couldn't stick it for more than a month because it was so awful.

"After New Year, I thought, 'Right I'm going to give it another go. I don't want to be frightened like that again'."

She cut out the fatty convenience foods and began a programme of exercise and healthy eating.

Key to her success was preparing meals using fresh ingredients.

"When I walked through the door of the class it was like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders," she says. "I made a promise to myself that I would see it through.

"I stuck to mostly fresh food. Whereas before I'd head off to the freezer, I now spend my time chopping vegetables and preparing homemade soups.

"With Slimming World you have green days, where you eat things like rice, pasta and potatoes, and the red days, which is more based around meat. But I chose to stick mainly to the green days.

"I now walk a lot more and I go swimming once or twice a week, which I really enjoy. Before, it was the embarrassment factor that stopped me."

Tricia has lost six stones in just under a year, and was recently named group slimmer of the year.

She's now looking forward to the festive season more than ever.

"I'd like to get to about 11 stones, but if the flu came back now, I don't think I'd be frightened," she says.

"I'm so excited about Christmas and am going to wear a dress for the first time in years."

Claire Brough, leader of the Kidsgrove Slimming World class that Tricia attends, says: "So often when slimmers have a bad week they just give up, but Tricia has come to the classes no matter what. She's a massive inspiration."

Tricia adds: "On Christmas Day last year I just about managed to get downstairs.

"This year I'm doing a buffet and all my family are going to come around."

For more information on Claire Brough's Kidsgrove Slimming World classes, which are held at 9.30am, 5.15pm and 6.30pm every Wednesday at Kidsgrove Methodist Church, telephone 07986 569076.