A mum dropped four-and-a-half stone of baby weight after being told she could have gone blind.
Sarah Gibbs, 35, from Sketty in Swansea, has a rare neurological condition which causes increased pressure around the brain and eyes. The condition is called idiopathic intracranial hypertension and only affects two in 100,000 people.
Ms Gibbs said: "I was getting blurred vision, intense headaches and ended up having to have three lumbar punctures to reduce the pressure around my brain. My neurologist told me that if I didn’t lose weight and reach a healthy BMI I would run the risk of losing my sight.”
After having her daughter, Luna, in October 2017, Ms Gibbs said she was 15 stone and a size 18. She had been living on takeaways and felt too embarrassed to join an exercise class.
"I couldn’t wear any of my favourite clothes anymore and wasn’t taking any pride in my appearance," said Ms Gibbs.
"I had tried to lose weight so many times before by following numerous diets, but they were never sustainable because I’d always get tired of restricting what I ate.
"Feeling this way and then seeing some photos of me and my daughter on Facebook, I decided that enough was enough."
On January 1 2018, Ms Gibbs started at Slimming World, losing five pounds in her first week. She swapped her beloved takeways for far cheaper and healthier choices, joined exercise classes and walked her daughter to nursery every week before walking to work.
"I always thought that it would be more expensive to eat more healthily, but I’m actually spending much less thanks to the food planning I’m doing and buying lots of frozen fruit and vegetables rather than fresh," she said.
"It’s all about moderation and not depriving yourself of the good stuff.”
Ms Gibbs has now been discharged from consultant care, is a size 10 and at a healthy BMI.
10 steps to a healthy weight
She said: "It feels absolutely amazing to know that I’ve achieved a healthy BMI and I’m no longer in danger of losing my vision.
“I can finally wear all my old clothes again, I feel so much happier and healthier."
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