New Year’s Eve photos from last year shocked Charlene into losing weight and setting up her own slimming group in Whittlesey

A Whittlesey mum who went up to size 20 after having babies has been inspired to help others after losing three stone in a year.

Twelve months ago Charlene Knowles was almost 15 stone and really unhappy with herself.

From meeting her husband aged 16 at a size 10, her weight blossomed as her relationship did.

She said: “I was a size 14 when I married, a size 16 after my first child and a size 20 after my fourth child.

“The temptation of sneaking children’s sweets here and there was easy, it didn’t matter it was the kids stuff, who would know?

“I hated going clothes shopping, hated what the numbers said on the hangers.

“I used to think, I’ll lose weight for the next big family event but never did because I didn’t have the tools, knowledge or willpower.”

Christmas and New Year photos were the turning point as she couldn’t stand seeing the person she had turned into.

It was then that Charlene joined her mum’s Slimming World group at Childers.

“I couldn’t believe how much I could eat and still lose so much,” she said.

At her first weigh in she had lost 8.5lbs.

Joining a group meant having other people to give the boost needed to go walking or swimming together, she said.

“I’m now fitting back in clothes that I’d put away years ago!”

It was on January 4 she began her Slimming World journey and in under a year she has lost three stone.

• Join Charlene on Wednesday January 4 at Childers on Station Road at either 5.30pm or 7.30pm.