Slimming World Woman of the Year Cheryl Blythe lost 14 stone

A morbidly obese woman who turned down a gastric band operation lost 14 stone in 18 months.

Cheryl Blythe was 31 when her GP told her she would be dead or confined to a wheelchair by 45 if she did not lose weight.

However, she rejected weight-loss surgery in favour of eating healthily, and from a starting weight of 24st is now down to 10st.

Blythe, now 33, began ballooning in weight after she became pregnant at the age of 17.

Feeling lonely as a young mother, she comfort-ate in secret to pass the time.

By her early 30s, she was suffering breathing problems and back pain, and found walking difficult.

Blythe said: “I knew my health wasn’t good and the things I heard from my doctor scared me, but I always prioritised other people, my family call me their ‘button’ because they say I hold everything and everyone together during the hard times.”

The turning point came on a trip to Southend with two friends in September 2013.

She said: “My weight affected everything we did that day, my back was so painful, we had to keep stopping when we were walking so I could catch my breath, I couldn’t fit in some chairs because they were too small, and I felt like everyone was staring at me the whole time.

“I realised that at 31 my friends had become my carers and I couldn’t pretend I was OK anymore.”

Two days later, Blythe, a mother of two from Basildon, Essex, joined her local Slimming World club.

She swapped family takeaways and large bars of chocolate for home-cooked meals and healthier snacks, and took up exercise, walking before she was able to run again.

“I felt that by having a gastric band fitted I wouldn’t be learning anything about healthy eating or my own relationship with food, or helping my children to have a good understanding of healthy eating either,” she said.

Blythe will now be crowned Slimming World Woman of the Year, and credits the weight-loss club with her health.

“Slimming World has given me my life back,” she said.

“My health problems have disappeared, I no longer sit on the sidelines while my family have fun without me, my friends aren’t my carers any more, I can wear whatever I want, the list is endless.”