TOO BIG TO RIDE A BIKE

After many years of avoiding family activities, Claire 46, is now embracing every opportunity Hannaford,

Watching my five children cycling ahead of me, I had a huge grin sweeping across my face. A bike ride was just a typical family day out, one that most mums wouldn't think too much about. But for me, this was a moment to atching my five children cycling ahead of me, I had a huge grin sweeping across my face. A bike ride remember. You see, aged 44, this was the first bike ride I'd ever been on.

It was summer 2020 and my husband Neil, then 45, had spent the last few weeks teaching me how to ride a bike. I'd always felt too big to cycle and had hated exercise since I was a little girl.

FACING THE CHALLENGE

So when Neil took the kids out to the park, I always stayed home. But now, after losing 6st, it was time for me to join them. After all, I'd worked hard to get to this point...

I've always been a snacker and growing up, I was never small. But it took until a holiday to Benidorm in August 2018 to make me face up to my problem.

After a week of gorging on buffets, piling my plate high with bacon, sausages and toast for breakfast, baguettes, chips and cakes at lunch and then three courses for dinner all topped off with a cocktail or two, I'd put on half a stone by the time I got home. All in just one week! I'd tried diets before.

In fact, most weeks I started a diet on Monday, restricting my food to almost nothing, before giving in by Wednesday and ordering a huge takeaway. The same yo-yo diet, week after week. And even running after the kids wasn't enough to burn the calories I was consuming. I've joined Slimming World and it's really working for me!' a colleague mentioned that October at the estate agent where I worked.