Laura Finlow, a tenacious mum-of-five from Milton Keynes, has shed an incredible eight stone despite harrowing ordeals.
In 2013, Laura suffered a devastating loss when her mother, Janice, died of lung cancer at the age of 57. In a cruel twist of fate, Laura’s husband James was diagnosed with leukemia that very week.
“It was really, really hard,” Laura confessed. In a moment of grief, Laura had to return to work and put on a brave face in front of customers. “I lost my best friend,” he said. “You just want to shut yourself off from the world and cry.”
The mum, who weighed 15 stone at the time and stood just 5ft 3in, found solace in food over the years, weighing 19kg and 123kg by 2017.
“I thought I looked terrible,” Laura confided. “I couldn’t believe how big I was…the size of a house.”
Then one night, Laura reflected, “I thought, ‘What am I going to do? What if something happens to me? I can’t leave my children behind. I have to organize myself”.
Determined to make a change, Laura started the 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, which includes a low-calorie diet, and saw her slim down to a slim 10st 7lb (67kg) in eight months.
For lunch, Laura had to visit cafes without knowing the high calorie content of the sandwiches and cakes she ate, but the 1:1 diet of the Cambridge Weight Plan offered her ready-made meals and meal replacements.
She happily recounted, “I had to buy smaller clothes; I could barely keep up. When I saw the numbers on the scale go down, I had to check that it was right.”
Laura now weighs 10 7lbs with a 31.5 inch waist. “I have to lose weight because I have five children and a grandchild,” Laura said. “And I have to be there for them. I don’t want to go back to the person I was — that wasn’t life.”
“I put jeans on for the first time in years and the size 14 was too big; I haven’t even worn jeans in years and now I feel more confident,” she shared.
Laura is currently in the maintenance phase of her diet and is confident that she won’t go back to her old ways.
“You never realize how big you are until you lose weight and I’m so glad I can run with the kids now, it’s amazing,” Laura said.
The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan is a calorie-controlled program that promotes eating packaged meals and snack replacements.
