We've lost 26st!

Meet the mums and daughters who inspired each other to make big changes

Mum

'IT FELT LIKE MY LAST CHANCE'

Louise Pople, 64, lives in Westonsuper-Mare with her husband Mike, 73, and daughter Megan, 29.

Stepping onto the scales, I heard the children behind me stifle their giggles as the teacher wrote my weight on a bar chart. I was 10 years old and, weighing 8st, I was at least 2st heavier than the rest of the pupils in my class. This was a moment that would be forever etched in my memory. It was the start of a 50-year battle with my weight.

Growing up, I was always on the big side, and I was always snacking on crisps and sweets.

When I married Mike in 1988, I walked down the aisle in a size-22 dress, and while I didn't feel completely confident, my size was never an issue for him - he loved me just the way I was. But when we began thinking about starting a family, my weight did start to become a problem.

After years of trying to conceive, I needed fertility treatment and was told the reason could be my weight.

Happily, after treatment, my daughter Megan was born in 1994, followed by my son Edward in 1995, but my weight increased with each pregnancy and never came off afterwards.

Working as a primary school teacher, I hid my low self-esteem behind a big, cuddly persona and often lectured my pupils on how 'appearance doesn't matter' - yet, inside, I hated how I looked. I also worried that I was passing on my own body insecurities and unhealthy habits to Megan, as when she was a teenager I noticed her agonising about her own weight.