AT SIZE 20, Aleshea McIntosh dreaded dressing up for the Christmas party - but now she has lost 6st and can't wait to show off her trim new figure in a revealing dress..
Getting dressed up for a Christmas party is all part of the fun of the festive season and back in December 2010 Aleshea McIntosh donned her best party frock and headed off on a girls' night out feeling great.
"It was the end of December and we went to a lovely Indian restaurant," she says. "I remember feeling good about how I looked, despite wearing a size 18/20 dress and weighing 16st 7lb."
The girls partied the night away but reality came crashing down on Aleshea when she saw the photos from her big night out and was mortified.
"I happily posed for photos but when I saw one particular picture I thought 'that's awful' and was so embarrassed."
Aleshea, now 30, from Burnley, had no idea she'd put on so much weight. Until meeting husband Wayne she had been a size 14, but the weight slowly crept on.
"When I first got together with Wayne in 2004 I was a size 14 and weighed 13st," she explains.
"In the early days everything revolved around food. We'd go on dates to the pub or have takeaway pizza."
When the couple moved in together a year later Wayne's snacking habits became Aleshea's too.
"He's terrible for eating chocolate and sweets," she says. "We never cooked and would just bung ready meals on baking trays. I also spent a lot of time eating out and drinking wine with my friends, and my weight was soon pushing 14st.
"Even though I was buying size 16 jeans I told myself I was still a size 14 and that the shop had made them too small. Because I was tall, I thought I could get away with it."
After getting married in August 2006 Aleshea, a clerical officer, fell pregnant and gave birth to their daughter Eva, now five, in February 2008. Afterwards, she tipped the scales at 17st 7lb and wore a size 20.
"I thought I could lose the baby weight on my own but despite my best efforts, between 2008 and 2010, I had limited results. I joined Weight Watchers but only stuck at it for a few weeks."
However those 2010 Christmas shots finally gave Aleshea the push she needed to make a change.
"I'd spent Christmas Day eating a full fry-up, chocolates, a big turkey dinner with the works, including roast potatoes and dessert, plus sandwiches later.
"That New Year's Eve I sat with my mother-in-law Susan, who was also overweight, and we made a resolution to join Weight Watchers and stick at it."
christmas, christmas dinner, xmas dinner, weight, weight watchers, alesheaAleshea as she is today [ STUART MASON]
This Christmas Day I'm wearing a gorgeous purple dress with the back cut out. It's something I never would have dreamed of wearing when I was big
Aleshea signed up in January 2011 and took to the points-based plan instantly. She had a daily point allowance and was told how every item of food and drink had a point value that can be worked out on a calculator.
"I started on 34 points per day but I didn't struggle because I changed how I prepared my food," she says.
"I cooked from scratch and made family friendly meals like pasta bake with home-made sauce and wholegrain pasta, chicken and rice, and my spaghetti bolognese is packed with vegetables.
"I stopped drinking as much. When you have to choose between food or alcohol, food wins, and I lost 4lb in my first week." Aleshea knew that if she wanted to lose the fat she had to get fit, so bought herself a pedometer. "I went from being a big couch potato to walking a few nights a week and then joined a running club."
Five months later, Aleshea had lost 2st 7lb and was a size 12/14. Then she discovered she was pregnant with her second child Violet, now one. She was just 10lb from target.
"I was surprised but we were both really happy, although as you can't attend Weight Watchers when pregnant I worried I was going to get fat again," she admits.
"Instead of using pregnancy as an excuse to eat I took all the knowledge I'd learned and carried on eating my five a day, kept up with my walking and tried to swim every week. I also went to a pregnancy aerobics class.
"At Christmas I didn't want to ruin months of hard work so I made better choices. If I had a chocolate I'd factor it into my point allowance.
"At lunch I'd have turkey and loads of vegetables but only one or two roast potatoes and during the pregnancy I only gained 1st 3lb."
After Violet was born on January 23, 2012, Aleshea had to wait six weeks before returning to her class, but got to her goal weight of 11st 7lb in September and is now a svelte size 10/12.
"I've maintained this weight ever since and I'm passing my healthy habits on to my children. Our elder daughter does 5k park runs with me and sometimes I even push Violet around in the pram. I also ran a 10k this summer.
"I've asked for running shoes this Chr
istmas and a GPS watch so I'll be ready to start training for my new goal, which is to run the half marathon at next year's Great North Run.
"This Christmas Day I'm wearing a gorgeous purple dress from Dorothy Perkins with the back cut out. It's something I never would have dreamed of wearing when I was big.
"I'm even wearing a belt to cinch in my waist and show off my new slim figure."tinyurl.com/kpuknm8
