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Wales Online
Wales Online
Health
Mark Smith

Mum who couldn't get out of a chair to use the toilet sheds more than 11st

A mum-of-four who was once so overweight she couldn't get up to use the toilet has lost more than half her body weight.

Janet Lewis, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan , has dropped from 22st to a svelte 10st 10lb since joining a Cardiff slimming group in July 2017.

She said at her heaviest she was unable to get out of a chair to go the bathroom.

"I couldn't carry my own body weight, so my partner had to help me to the toilet," admitted Janet, who almost died of cervical cancer at the age of just 26.

"I was crying that I was going to wet myself. That was the turning point for me."

Janet Lewis, 53, from Barry, has shed more than 11st through Slimming World. Here she is before the weight loss (Janet Lewis)

Janet, 53, said she began struggling with her weight when she gave birth to her son, Ray, more than three decades ago.

"I tried all the fad diets but I just couldn't keep the weight off," she said.

When her father Robert Selby died suddenly of suspected pneumonia four years ago, Janet said she struggled to come to terms with it.

"It was horrific. I couldn't deal with anything. My mum came to stay with me but we just ended up eating badly together.

"We'd go to town and eat cake, then we'd just sit in the house together."

Janet's father Robert Selby (Janet Lewis)

The death of her father, coupled with the embarrassment of being unable to support her own body weight, drove her to join Slimming World.

She said her consultant Rob Phillips was a real driving force in her quest to get slim - and stay that way.

"Rob never gives up on me. Even when I come back from holiday and put on some weight, I prove to him that I can get it off again.

"My motto is to 'eat myself slim'. I make sure I stick to the Slimming World food optimisation plan by making loads of food myself, including homemade KFC and cheese burgers with bacon.

"And my children love my Chinese food."

In addition to Janet losing weight, her daughter Carla Ingram, 31, has also shed an impressive 7st.

But Janet, who admits to never exercising, confesses that she still hasn't come to terms with looking thin.

Janet is literally half the woman she used to be (Janet Lewis)
Janet Lewis, 53, from Barry, has shed more than 11st through Slimming World (Janet Lewis)

"I still instinctively go for the large size in clothes shops," added Janet, who has won Slimming World's Greater Loser award three years running.

"Some days I look in the mirror and I don't realise it's me in the reflection.

"My husband Byron has also been my rock throughout this slimming journey."

What is Slimming World and how does it work?

Janet attends the Slimming World group in West End Social Club, Ely, every Wednesday at 5.30pm.

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