A trip to the theatre and a nightmare climb up several flights of stairs was the trigger to persuade a Huntingdon mum to lose more than eight stone in weight.

Sarah Doyle had taken her daughter to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on a hot and humid day in London and their seats were at the top of the theatre.

“I thought I was going to die when I reached the top,” said Sarah.

“I could hardly breathe and it took several moments to recover. That was it. I had this small person, then aged seven, who needed their mum around as long as possible. A mum who could do things with her like take her to the theatre and theme parks.”

Sarah knew she needed to lose weight and wanted to do it for her daughter, but for years she had been telling herself it was okay being overweight and it didn’t make her a bad person. She had convinced herself she was “absolutely fine” and she wasn’t going to have anyone telling what she should be doing regards her weight.

Sarah had tried various eating plans and diets and in 1994 she managed to lose 4.5 stone, but piled the weight back on and a bit more as well.

“I tried lots of eating plans and was lucky if I lost one or two stone. I would then lose interest, hit a plateau or Christmas came and I fell off the wagon and the pounds crept back on. Ten years ago I joined Sliming World with the good old red and green days and lost around two stone, but then I got stuck and Christmas came and I gave up.”

Sarah had conditioned herself that she just couldn’t do it, but this time she wanted to try for her daughter so in August, 2016, she re-joined Slimming World.

Sarah attended the same group she had 10 years ago, which was being run by the same consultant and admits she turned up feeling anxious and nervous.

She said: “Things had changed a bit, there were no red and green days anymore, you can eat it all together now and after 19 months I lost eight stone, which means I weigh less than I did at the age of 18. I have even taken up Zumba and ballroom dancing and could never have done that before. I am healthier and have more energy and the best thing ever was when my daughter, who is now nine, told me how happy she was she could get her arms all the way around me to give me a hug. I never thought I could do it, but I did. Think you can’t do it? Yes, you can.”

Sarah is going to be the new consultant at the Saturday morning Slimming World group at the Saxongate Community Learning Centre, in Huntingdon, from May 12. Classes are at 8.30am and 10.30am.