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.
I knew I needed to set a better example and get healthy, but by 2015 I weighed 20st 7lb. At 5ft 2in, I was classed as morbidly obese. So, I spent £7,000 on a gastric band, praying this would be the solution. I lost 5st but a gastric band doesn’t teach you how to eat properly. I could still binge fatty foods and alcohol, and it wasn’t long before my old ways crept back in. By September 2022, I’d put almost 3st back on.
I felt so disappointed in myself, and guilty that I’d spent so much money – and I was still overweight. But when I saw a health-initiative notice from the local council offering 12 free weeks at Slimming World, it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. At 63, I was suffering with arthritis, which I knew was exacerbated by my heavy frame. I was 17st 8lb when I first stood on the scales at Slimming World, and it felt like my last chance to lose weight after 50
