Oh baby, I've lost 7 stone! (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Oh baby, I've lost 7 stone!

NIKKI Scotford has lost an incredible 7st 9lbs in the last 19 months, and she's determined to lose more.

Three days after giving birth to her daughter Summer, Nikki, 27, tipped the scales at 20-and-a-half stone.

Now, at 12 stone 12lbs, she says she feels fitter, healthier and for the first time is feeling the cold.

Nikki, of Pinehurst, said: "I feel great. I'm able to kick a football around with my five-year-old daughter, Paris-Jane, and help the children play on their bikes.

"Before it was my husband Ron who would play with them as I wouldn't have the energy.

"The weight didn't help my asthma either, but now I hardly ever have to take my medication.

"I never used to feel the cold but now I'm having to put on more clothes in this weather.

"I still want to get down to my target weight of 10st."

Nikki, who stands 5ft 5ins tall, decided to take action when she was eight months pregnant with Summer. Before she dieted she wore size 30 trousers and now she can slip into a size 14.

Nikki's vital statistics were 44-38-43 before she started with Slimming World. Now she is 40-29-33.

She said: "Something just twigged in my head and I thought, 'I don't want to be this big any more.'

"I have always been large even when I was a little child. Mum and Dad had a camcorder and I was chubby when I was running around on a beach at the age of three.

"As I got older I'd spend my pocket money on sweets, come home from school and sit and watch television.

"I was never very active or sporty. I used to get bullied at school. Children used to call me names like 'chubby' and 'fatty', and it got worse as I got older.

"When I met Ron I weighed half-a-stone more than I do now, but he's always said he loves me whatever size I am.

"I used to yo-yo diet and my weight went up and down accordingly."

Nikki enrolled at Slimming World in the summer of 2002.

"Their plan is more about healthy eating than restricting yourself like other diets," she said.

"And I can still have alcohol and takeaways."

It works on the principle of dividing foods into two categories red and green.

On one day you can eat unlimited amounts of pasta and potatoes, while the next meals should comprise fish or meat.

She pays £3.95 for each weigh-in on Wednesdays at Gorse Hill Community Centre.

She said: "Once you reach your target weight you receive a certificate and don't have to pay each week unless you put on 3lbs.

"The support I've received from my consultant Sam Grant is great. We all help each other along."

Team manager Sara Young said: "Losing weight is difficult but Nikki's shown that it is possible.

"She's followed the plan 100 per cent and is an inspiration for everyone who comes along."

For more information call Sam Grant on 01793 723416.