Zumba Changed My Life

Mum-of-three Anne Marie Duffie, 56, went from zero to Zumba queen and lost 3st

- Natalia Lubomirski

If someone had told me three years ago I’d be teaching my own Zumba classes, I’d have looked down at my size 20 body, laughed, then had another sip of red wine!

Growing up, I was slim

My mum cooked hearty portions, but I was constantly active, playing for my school hockey team, so I never had a problem with my weight.

Everything changed when I had kids. I put on 3st with my first pregnancy and over the years, my weight yo-yoed.

I was a size 12 when, aged 28, I met my second husband, Sinclair. Happy and in love, we’d often go out socialising or open a bottle of wine with dinner, while tucking into a ready meal.

Over the next two decades, with two additional pregnancies, the weight crept on. I bought loose black tunics and trousers to try to conceal my expanding frame – it was like a mask to hide behind. And I hated party season – everyone would slip into slinky black dresses while I’d struggle to find anything to wear.

I had no energy, I became out of breath going up a flight of stairs and my confidence was in tatters. I’d often burst into tears, sobbing to my five-year-old son that I hated being a fat, horrible mum. He replied, ‘You’re not horrible.’ He never said I wasn’t fat, though!

After a holiday in 2013, I was horrified by snaps of me