A super-slimmer has told how she was motivated to lose over six stone after her best friend asked her to be a bridesmaid.
Dubliner Sinead Cahill, 43, is now running 5k a day and walking 10k with her dogs to keep the weight off.
Sinead told the Irish Mirror: “My best friend asked me to be her bridesmaid and I didn’t want to be the fat person in her pictures that were going to be on her wall.
“I didn’t want to ruin her pictures, when you’re overweight that’s how you feel.
“You can’t help feeling like that when you’ve got no confidence and no self esteem.
“I think social media has a lot to answer for comparing ourselves to everyone’s beautiful life, it messes with your head completely.”
The determined woman admits for years bad habits meant weight gain crept up.
She admits: “I had always struggled with my weight, I remember going into the bedroom with a packet of custard creams and hiding them, I love them but I don’t eat them anymore.
“At age 14, I remember buying size 14, then at 16, I was a size 16, 18 a size 18 and it went on from there.”
Sinead bit the bullet and joined Slimming World on her own to get healthy and turn her life around.
She said: “I’m a long time at it, it’ll be eight years this year.
“I had started bootcamp and aqua aerobic, I’d lost a stone by myself before I joined Slimming World.
“At the time I was just under 20 stone, I still have the outfit I wore to Slimming World that night, a pair of size 22 John Rocha Jeans and a Size 24 top.
“I was bursting out of both but I refused to buy bigger, all my clothes looked like black sacks on me.
“I just went myself, it was me myself and I, I was brave to walk through the doors on my own.”
Sinead has lost six stone 11 pounds in eight years and told how she had to dig deep.
She said: “I had a break from the scales for about four months but I stuck on plan.
“I had gained four stone in that time for different reasons, but I didn’t give up on myself and said come on Sinead, dig deep.
“I started an Instagram page so I’d have to post my food, to keep me accountable.
“September 12 months ago and now I’m so happy, I’m so thrilled I bought myself a size 14 skinny jeans in Tesco and a top and they fit me perfectly.
“In a way I think sometimes I suffer from body dysmorphia as I sometimes can’t believe what size I am.
“Some weeks are really hard, you have to keep going even when the scales don’t shift.
“I feel like I can achieve so much more now, I do a 5K run and then I bring the dogs out for a 10K walk, so I have 15K done before lunch now.”
