Being overweight for all of my adult life i have tried diets here and there since I was 16. From cutting out junk food and upping exercise to extremely low calorie diets and never managed to stick to anything for more than a couple of days. I thought I was destined to be "the fat friend" forever because I could never muster the willpower to stick at any diet or regime I set myself for more than a few days.

And then I heard about Slimming World. My boss joined last year and no-one in work even noticed she was on a diet because she was eating what looked to be her usual lunch no "diet food" in sight and then she shared her secret. I started looking into Slimming World and reading up about it and then in August 2011 I finally took the plunge and joined.

As a type 1 diabetic I wasn't sure if the diet would work for me but come weight in after my first week on Slimming World I'd lost 5lb and since then I've lost a further 23lb taking me to a 2stone loss in 18 weeks.

The plan is so easy to follow and for me is mainly tweaks to meals i would have previously eaten. For example using Frylight when cooking instead of oil. And nothing is banned. You have free food, such as fruit, veg, meat and pasta, and all food which are not classed as free food have a syn value and you are allowed upto 15 syns a day so you can still have treats.

Would I recommend Slimming World to others? I wholeheartedly would. Whilst losing weight the plan is also teaching my lifelong lessons so that once I reach target I can maintain that weight and not end up back where I started again.