A mum of seven who lost more than half her body weight has shared the secret of her success.
Rosie Rooney, 59, from Co Westmeath, started piling on the pounds after the creche where she worked was the target of an arson attack.
She told the Irish Mirror: “I managed a community creche for 20 years and vandals came set fire to it.
“The health board wouldn’t allow us to reopen it as a creche, so I got awfully down in myself.
“The weight was just piling on, I didn’t have any care for myself.”
Rosie’s daughter-in-law suggested joining Slimming World.
But she admits she was “heartbroken” the first time she stepped on the scales.
Rosie said: “I came home with my book and I couldn’t understand how you could lose weight by eating so much food.
“It took me a day or two to get it into my head but after that I was fine.”
Now, instead of indulging in Chinese takeaways, sweets and crisps, she cooks her own meals at home. Over the course of two years Rosie lost 9st 4lbs, going from dress size 22 to 24 to a slim size 8.
The Mullingar woman stays at her target weight by reminding herself how far she’s come.
She added: “I feel so marvellous about my weight loss but sometimes I forget and it’s only when I sit down and pick up a bar of chocolate I say to myself, ‘What are you doing?’.
“All the hard work you’ve put in – put it away’. You have to keep
yourself on the right track – I chat to myself a lot.”
The busy grandmother still looks forward to her weekly Slimming World meetings – and there’s no excuses not to go.
Rosie said: “I have 14 or 15 grandchildren and I mind them all the time because my daughters work.
“If I have them on a Wednesday morning our consultant Cathriona tells me to bring them with me and she has the table all set up with colouring books and games.
“She’s one in a million.”
Rosie’s health has massively improved since she lost the weight, and she no longer suffers from diabetes or asthma.
She went on: “I used to not be able to fit in the shower, I’d be pulling the door off to try to get in. I couldn’t climb stairs or walk into town.
“Now I’m flying around like a two-year-old. It’s like a different life.”
