AN inspirational woman from Worcester has transformed her life, losing four stone and living a new life.

Veronica Dowding has lost four stone in just six months after she found it difficult to engage in any energetic activity and finding her resting heart rate at a shocking 80 beats per minute.

She said: "Having heart disease in my family scared me, and when I found my resting heart rate to be over 80 beats per minute, I decided to do something about it.”

At the time she also found it hard to face shopping for clothes and was embarrassed about how she looked.

Wanting to make a change, she joined her local Slimming World group, where her weight loss journey began.

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She said: "Before I walked through the doors I thought ‘here I go again’, but I found the group so friendly and my Slimming World consultant was so welcoming and supportive that I haven’t looked back.

"Like a lot of people, I have tried to lose weight so many times before by following numerous diets, but they were never sustainable because they were often complicated to follow and restricted what I could eat.

"I thought that I was destined to struggle for with my weight for the rest of my life, but when I came to Slimming World it was so different.”

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As Veronica was very conscious of the effect of losing such a large amount of weight, she decided to embrace her ‘Body Magic’, with toning exercises, Zumba, and long walks with her dog.

She added: "I have seen a huge difference in my body shape, and this has given me confidence a boost, I am also now happily singing in a choir too. I couldn’t believe how much I could eat and still lose weight. I found the group was fun and staying with the group really made sense, as I was able to learn from all the other members, and to pick up valuable advice and recipe ideas to keep motivated."

As part of the plan, Veronica can still enjoy her favourite meals, like spaghetti bolognaise and roast dinners. Nothing is off the menu because Slimming World helps change eating habits rather than restrict people.

Veronica enjoyed her weight loss journey so much, that she has now trained as a Consultant for Slimming World & will be running her group at Tudor Grange Academy on Monday evenings at 5.30pm and 7.30pm from Monday, October 28.

For more information, go to www.slimmingworld.co.uk