Just one year ago, Joanne Morgan struggled to walk down the stairs without grimacing in pain, she struggled to enjoy playing with her children due to constant exhaustion caused by her aches and pains and slow recovery after major surgery.
Now, the 32-year-old Co Down woman has a spring in her step and has never felt better after shedding 5 stone, 5 lbs in just 7 months.
Joanne credits WW, the new Weight Watchers with helping her lose weight and keep it off, as well as improving her quality of life tenfold.
Having struggled with her weight on and off for years, Joannes frustration at not being able to shed the pounds increased after she underwent a hysterectomy in January 2019.
I didnt know what weight I was when I started WW I just knew I had a lot of weight on. The year before I started, I got out of hospital on New Year' s Day, I had to have a hysterectomy and I sort of was in a rough wee place at the start of last year. I just wasnt 100% and I knew myself I had the weight on and I was sort of trying to get it off but it wasnt coming off and I was really stressing myself out about it.
An unexpected trip to visit her brother and newborn baby in Australia gave Joanne a whole new outlook and she started to realise she had the mental drive to lose weight if she was really focused.
Whilst I was there [in Australia] I went for this walk along the coast and I just thought to myself how lucky I was to have my children and things like that. My friend had joined WW the week I left for Australia and I told her I would join when I was ready. I kept getting told as well by the surgeon and the doctors to give myself a year's recovery and I did, and as soon as I did that and I got my head and my hormones right, after Christmas-the first week of January, I joined WW and never looked back.
At her heaviest Joanne was 16stone 1lb and set herself a goal of losing 5 stone 5lbs, and she achieved that, in just 7 months using the WW programme. Joanne says it was bad food choices which led her to pile on the pounds, particularly her fondness for chocolate and takeaways, but now, she still enjoys both, just in moderation.
My downfall was basically bad choices with food, anything convenient, couldnt be bothered cooking dinner tonight, we will get McDonalds, we will get Friar Tucks, takeaways and chocolate were the two things that I pinpointed as my issue.
The best thing about WW is still being able to have your treats and you can easily track everything, everything is so easy to find on the tracker app and you can carry over some of your points if you know you have a meal out or drinks coming up at the weekend, you can still enjoy those things and lose weight.
WW is definitely an easy plan to follow, its not tough and you have so much variety. I would be obsessed with chocolate bars and what I do now is instead of having say a Snickers, I would have two Skinny Whip bars and its still less points than a Snickers, Im very much I need my chocolate fix every day but on WW I can have that.
As well as her svelte new figure, with losing the weight, also came added health benefits for the mum-of-two, who struggled for years with chronic pain/
I would have suffered from chronic pain in my back, I broke my tail bone quite a few times and have had surgery on my right shoulder twice, and the left one wouldnt be that great either. But I was getting reflexology and dry needling done for the aches and pains, but once I started to lose the weight I cut down on those appointments, the pain subsided and now I would get the dry needling done maybe only once a month.
She also believes daily walks have helped improve her mobility and helped with the weight loss.
I walked the bit out as well, I walk once a day minimum, if its my day off Ill try and get two smaller walks in and it keeps my head right as well. If I was in a bad place and it was usually over my health and not having the energy to do the things like not being able to do what I want to do with my children because I was constantly tired. But now with the weight off Im jumping out of the bed. I used to have to walk downstairs sideways due to the pain in my back and my legs and the weight didnt help that so I feel so much better now.
Despite the temptation that surrounds her daily whilst working in a busy fast-food cafe, Joanne says she was kept on track by her local WW coach Deirdre Murdock.
My WW coach Deirdre Murdock was so supportive, everyone that is thinking of going to WW in the Newry/Warrenpoint area, Deirdre is brilliant, shes so authoritative, she gives brilliant advice and words of wisdom, were always waiting every week for her wee one liners. When lockdown came I had hit the three stone off and I thought Im not giving up on her either because she is so good and I didnt want to let her down, never mind myself.
I was made redundant from my job last year and I thought I was just getting myself together before I got that wee job in the cafe and I felt it wasnt probably the right job for me to go into with the weight on but it suited with the children and school hours but I still managed to lose the weight.
Urging anyone who was in a similar position of wanting to lose weight but unsure of how to get started, the Newry woman added: First of all, as long as your head is in it and youre ready to do it for you. And just stop making excuses! I made excuses for years as to why I was putting on a few pounds here and there and its not doing you any good. Just be ready, be prepared to give it your all. WW is so manageable and so realistic, there is nothing you cant have in moderation, but you need to be in control.
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Everyone says to me you did so well because I work in a fast-food cafe and the temptation is real with the goujons and big fat fries and I could have carried that on but I didnt, its a lot about self-control and a positive mindset."
