A woman from Helston has scooped an award for being named the town’s Greatest Loser 2019.

Donna Hudson has lost a life-changing six stone to take the title, which is awarded to the member of the Helston Tuesday Slimming World group who has lost the most weight.

Donna, who’s gone from 16 and a half stone to 10 and a half stone, said: “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a loser when it feels this good! I feel like a new Donna since losing weight – in fact, I look so different that people who I haven’t seen for a while often can’t believe I’m the same person. For me though it’s the change on the inside that’s been the greatest – I’m happier, healthier and much more confident now.”

The proud 46-year-old joined the Tuesday group, which is run by Suzie Hackland, in November 2017.

Donna added: “My weight impacted on so many aspects of my life, from struggling to find clothes that I like to fit to not being able to do simple everyday tasks without feeling tired and out of breath. Before I lost the weight I hated having my photo taken and whenever I saw pictures of myself I knew that my smile wasn’t real – yet now I’m beaming!”

Donna’s weight was also putting a huge strain on her health and mobility. People who are severely overweight, with a BMI* above 30, are more likely to suffer from health problems like coronary heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and cancer, and obesity is linked to a reduction in life expectancy of between seven and nine years. In Cornwall 64 per cent of people are so severely overweight that their health is already at risk.

After a friend recommended Slimming World, Donna decided to join her local Slimming World group at the Light & Life Centre at Water-Ma-Trout.

She said: “Walking through those doors was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, I was embarrassed about my size and scared that I might be the biggest person there. I needn’t have worried though, everyone there was so friendly especially my consultant Suzie and I was so relieved when I found out that my weight was confidential – I’d had visions of having to tell everyone how much I weighed.

“Since then I’ve made so many friends at the group and I honestly don’t think I could have done it without their support each week. They helped me with recipes and tips and if I was ever struggling they were always there to remind me why I’d wanted to lose weight in the first place and how far I’d come since first stepping through the doors.”

Donna followed the club’s Food Optimising eating plan and swapped high fat meals for steak and slimming world chips.

She says: “People think slimming means going hungry, yet it’s not like that at all with Slimming World. I love food and it’s never once felt like I was on ‘a diet’ – in fact, people are always surprised at how much food I have on my plate and can’t believe I’m losing weight eating so much delicious food and without ever feeling hungry.

“I still enjoy all my favourite meals like burgers and chips and roast dinners but I’ve learned how to make small changes like using lean meat or cooking with low calorie spray instead of oil or butter. It fits in really well with the rest of my family and we can all eat the same meals. This is a change that I’ve made for life and have the tools I need to keep up forever.”

Today Donna has gone from a size 18 to a size 10. She is also more active nowadays and regularly enjoys long walks with her husband.

Suzie, who runs the Tuesday Slimming World group, said: “The changes we’ve seen in Donna are incredible. I hope her success will inspire other people in Helston who’d like to lose weight by forming new lifestyle habits and become happier and healthier to take action. There’s a warm welcome waiting at Slimming World and, just think, if you start today you could feel like a completely new person just like Donna .”

Each of Slimming World’s 19,000 groups in the UK and Ireland has their own Greatest Loser 2019 and winners will go forward to the national competition.Donna is now waiting to find out if she in the running for the £3,000 cash prize.

The Helston group meets every Tuesday at 9am,11am, 5pm and 7pm at the Light & Life Centre at Water-Ma-Trout. To join call Suzie on 01326 280293 or pop along.