From the Daily Mail:
A couple whose stressful lives led them to reach for the takeaway menu celebrated a new lease of life today after losing almost 20 stone.
Katie and Mark Fairhead were named Mr and Mrs Slimming World 2009 after they shed weight equivalent to having two extra people in their marriage.
The weight loss was so dramatic Mrs Fairhead's own brother failed to recognise her at a recent wedding.
The couple, from Wymondham, Norfolk, blamed takeaway dinners of fish and chips, pizza and Chinese food nearly every night for their weight gain as they could not be bothered to cook after a long day at work.
Mrs Fairhead, 40, a former housing manager, said she was a 'workaholic' until a nervous breakdown left her virtually housebound.
'Food became my friend and I comfort ate,' said Katie whose weight ballooned to 20st 9.5lb.
Showing off her new trim figure Mrs Fairhead, who now weighs 10st 10lbs, continued: 'Now we experiment with healthier recipes but we're still allowed the occasional takeaway.'
Her 45-year-old husband also piled on the pounds after he went from the shop floor of a furniture firm to an office job and gave up cycling to look after his sick wife.
He weighed 23st 6lb and was too heavy to weigh himself on the couple's bathroom scales but is now a much healthier 13st 10lbs.
The couple, who will celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary in June, now look so different that even friends and family have failed to recognise them.
'We went to a family wedding a couple of years ago when we had lost a lot of weight,' said Mrs Fairhead.
'I walked up to my brother and he didn't recognise me.
'At the end of the day I was quite upset as I was talking to people and they were looking me up and down but not talking to me. I didn't realise until the official line-up that they didn't know who I was.'
Mrs Fairhead, who has maintained her target weight for a year, praised Slimming World for offering a diet plan which she could 'maintain for life'.
Mr Fairhead, who had a successful operation to correct the hernia after he lost weight, said his back pain has also now gone: 'I save a lot of money on chiropractor visits.'
He took part in a 100-mile bike ride through Essex at the weekend and is currently training for a half-marathon run later this year.
The couple also get plenty of exercise walking their dogs which they adopted from the People for Animal Care Trust in Norfolk, where Mrs Fairhead is a volunteer.
They urged anyone else who is obese to break out of the 'vicious circle' and lose weight.
'If our story helps and inspires other people I shall be very happy,' said Mrs Fairhead.
'For me to stand in a room full of people was very hard but I made myself a promise that I was going to stick to the group every week.
'I realise my problems were so deep-seated that I needed the help of other people. The weekly support and friendship you get is amazing.'
Her husband added: "I have got my wife back, the person I married, as well as getting my own health back.
Aren't they just incredible? A big well done from me.
A couple whose stressful lives led them to reach for the takeaway menu celebrated a new lease of life today after losing almost 20 stone.
Katie and Mark Fairhead were named Mr and Mrs Slimming World 2009 after they shed weight equivalent to having two extra people in their marriage.
The weight loss was so dramatic Mrs Fairhead's own brother failed to recognise her at a recent wedding.
The couple, from Wymondham, Norfolk, blamed takeaway dinners of fish and chips, pizza and Chinese food nearly every night for their weight gain as they could not be bothered to cook after a long day at work.
Mrs Fairhead, 40, a former housing manager, said she was a 'workaholic' until a nervous breakdown left her virtually housebound.
'Food became my friend and I comfort ate,' said Katie whose weight ballooned to 20st 9.5lb.
Showing off her new trim figure Mrs Fairhead, who now weighs 10st 10lbs, continued: 'Now we experiment with healthier recipes but we're still allowed the occasional takeaway.'
Her 45-year-old husband also piled on the pounds after he went from the shop floor of a furniture firm to an office job and gave up cycling to look after his sick wife.
He weighed 23st 6lb and was too heavy to weigh himself on the couple's bathroom scales but is now a much healthier 13st 10lbs.
The couple, who will celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary in June, now look so different that even friends and family have failed to recognise them.
'We went to a family wedding a couple of years ago when we had lost a lot of weight,' said Mrs Fairhead.
'I walked up to my brother and he didn't recognise me.
'At the end of the day I was quite upset as I was talking to people and they were looking me up and down but not talking to me. I didn't realise until the official line-up that they didn't know who I was.'
Mrs Fairhead, who has maintained her target weight for a year, praised Slimming World for offering a diet plan which she could 'maintain for life'.
Mr Fairhead, who had a successful operation to correct the hernia after he lost weight, said his back pain has also now gone: 'I save a lot of money on chiropractor visits.'
He took part in a 100-mile bike ride through Essex at the weekend and is currently training for a half-marathon run later this year.
The couple also get plenty of exercise walking their dogs which they adopted from the People for Animal Care Trust in Norfolk, where Mrs Fairhead is a volunteer.
They urged anyone else who is obese to break out of the 'vicious circle' and lose weight.
'If our story helps and inspires other people I shall be very happy,' said Mrs Fairhead.
'For me to stand in a room full of people was very hard but I made myself a promise that I was going to stick to the group every week.
'I realise my problems were so deep-seated that I needed the help of other people. The weekly support and friendship you get is amazing.'
Her husband added: "I have got my wife back, the person I married, as well as getting my own health back.
Aren't they just incredible? A big well done from me.
