A WOMAN from Basingstoke has managed to lose nearly 10 stone after joining a weight loss programme.

Kat Grimshaw, 30, lost a total of nine stone after getting involved with the programme from LighterLife.

Kat, who used to weigh 19st 13lb, and now weighs 10st 13lbs, said: “My 30th birthday was approaching, and this occasion meant I finally had a lightbulb moment of ‘enough is enough’. Everything in my life had fallen into place except my weight, and it was time I did something about it.

I’d been overweight from an early age, I even remember sneaking food out of the kitchen cupboard when I was younger.

"Growing up in our house, food was always a treat, so I always associated it with happiness or for times when I needed comforting. This mentality followed me into my adult life, and I used food as a crutch for many of life’s obstacles.

“For far too long I stayed in a horrible relationship with someone who didn’t support me and my weight loss efforts, so I became stuck in a cycle of emotional eating.

Kat received help from a LighterLife course. She added: “What’s amazing about LighterLife is the group support. My counsellor, Claire, is always motivating and I’ve really enjoyed the weekly cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) activities she takes us through. Without LighterLife’s unique approach to weight loss, I would never have been able to set myself free from my repeating pattern.

“As a sufferer of chronic fatigue syndrome, I would fall asleep at my desk in the middle of the day, but since losing weight I have so much more energy that the effects have changed dramatically. LighterLife has given me this new mindset on living a healthy balanced life and a life I never thought I could have.”