Diabetes diagnosis spurs Broadstairs mum to lose half her body weight

Determined Anne-Marie lost more than 13 stone

A Broadstairs mum-of-four who made it her mission to lose weight after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes has shed an amazing 13.5 stone.

Care worker Anne-Marie Tate was using crutches due to an ankle injury and her weight when other health problems prompted a visit to the GP.

The 43-year-old said: “I was informed I had type 2 diabetes and I literally went from the surgery and walked around the corner to the Slimming World club at St Peter’s.

“I had osteoarthritis in both knees and because I was so heavy I was having difficulty walking.”

At that point in March 2019 Anne-Marie weighed just over 26 stone and it was impacting her health and making everyday tasks, such as getting in and out of the bath, difficult.

After joining the group Anne-Marie changed her diet, swapping high calorie foods that tend to be laden with oils, fats and sugars for meals that are full of filling foods with proteins such as meats, potatoes and pasta. The aim was to feel full for longer, making it less likely that she would want to snack.

She said: “The group has been amazing, we are like a little family encouraging each other and doing it together.”

By August last year Anne-Marie weighed 13.5 stone and says she reached the target b taking it one small step at a time.

She said: “Everything I eat now is nice and healthy, lots of veg and fruit. You have to change everything and you have to stick to it. On this diet you can have unlimited pasta, rice and potatoes and as you get smaller you reduce portion size which means you don’t feel hungry and start craving.”

Losing half her body weight has resulted in some huge changes to Anne-Marie’s life. She said: “I am a care worker and have recently gone back to work. I was off for five years after slipping and breaking my ankle and then having the osteoarthritis and putting on more weight and being diagnosed with the diabetes.

“But I went back to work in November and I have reversed the diabetes so I still take tests but am no longer on medication.

“I walk everywhere and I don’t need the crutches anymore. I used to struggle to get  in the bath but now I can just jump in and out.

“Your health is the most important thing. At the start I had only just turned 40 and just thought ‘I can’t have diabetes at 40.’”

The benefits have also been felt by Anne-Marie’s grown-up children aged 24, 19 and twins of 18.

She said: “My daughter was 21 and 19 stone,. She has now lost 9 stone. She doesn’t go to the club but watched me and wanted to do it for herself.

“My elder son is also very tall and broad and he has lost four or five stone without even trying because he eats what I give hm and so now has a healthier diet so it has had an effect on everybody.”

Anne-Marie says she joined the Slimming World social team, helping other members, as a way of making sure she attended even if she was wavering.

She said: “It meant I had to go as I was helping so I had to do it and stick to it!”

She is now hoping to learn to drive so that she can then go on and train as a consultant. She said: “I’d like to do that in the long run as Slimming World is a part of my life now and will always be a part of my life.”

Find out more about Slimming World at https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/

50 Comments

  1. Very well done all of you, you have demonstrated that eating the right food is all it takes to look normal! I am just under 6ft tall, a pensioner, and have been just under 12 stone for decades, avoiding takaways, animal fat including butter, sugar, cakes and even bread! I have always exercised daily (I have a cross trainer now I can’t swim anymore, and use a bike at least 4 times a week)

    Don’t judge me but I find even looking at obese or overweight people nauseating! I do not understand why people overeat, and it costs the NHS (us) £billions because of their self inflicted injuries, and medical problems brought on by obesity! Jolly well again, and now you look a smasher, are you single by any chance?

    • What a patronising judgemental response. Unfortunately responses like this make it difficult for anyone that has a weight problem.

      • Total twaddle, someone elses opinion is going to have no effect on the biological processes involved in metabolism and weight gain / loss. As both the article and the comment you dislike point out for tha vast majority of people weight loss is purely a matter of diet and exercise.
        We all have opinions and someone somewhere will disagree with them, it always has and always will be the case.
        Too many people take the opinion of others as personal criticism when iin most cases its just a general view.

      • They don’t have a weight problem Dianne, they have a self discipline problem! Its pure self indulgence that causes obesity, and laziness! Why bother shopping for proper food, and vegetables, and having to cook it when you can grab a fattening ready meal, or takaway! As I mentioned elsewhere, but its worth repeating, I grew up in the 40’s and 50’s when we hade severe rationing, worse than during the war! I don’t remember seeing anyone obese, or even overweight, had there been anyone, people would have wondered where they got their extra rations from!

        • Ruth, well said, this Dumpon character is such an idiot, he/she seems to be able to insult just about everyone on here, on any topic.

          Ok, ok, Dumpton I will await your ridiculous uneducated replies.

  2. She looks amazing, well done Anne-Marie (or Ann-Marie, it says both in the article)… and I’m with Dumpton, 5’11” and I keep under 12 stone, despite going out at least once a week for some fine dining!

  3. Well done, you’ve made amazing changes. I love your strategy of getting involved so you couldn’t stray! My brother shocked his endocrinologist and diabetes nurse by losing a serious amount of weight after he was diagnosed with diabetes at 40. When he came off insulin last year they told him only a teeny tiny percentage of diabetics manage to reverse the condition and it’s extremely difficult to change your whole lifestyle to achieve that after decades of eating the wrong diet. He’s still on tablets but he’s very happy to not be having to inject himself several times a day. Massive high five to you Anne-Marie and your children.

    • Your brother and Anne-Marie set excellent examples of what can be done if people chose to do so, it has huge benefits for themselves and wider society , huge congratulations for accepting their condition, listening to their medical professionals and doing something about it. I would hope that they both take great pride in what they’ve achieved and feel much better as well.
      Whilst no doubt they represent a tiny proportion of people that achieve such a turnaround, it goes to show it is possible and that just relying on the health service is often unnecessary.

    • Lots of things are sometimes linked to other things, but if you start dictating policy and behaviour to cater for minority issues you risk missing the big picture. Surely deal with the majority then use the savings from those improvements to then look at the next largest group etc etc.

    • Well Dianne, every time archive film of ordinary people over say 20 or 25 years ago comes on, its possible to see many ordinary people in the streets who do not have mental problems, because they all look “normal”! Its obvious people are reaching for so called comfort food when they are feeling bit down, when all they need to do is avoid it, and get some exercise, or go for a long walk! They will feel a lot better afterwards, so stop snacking, and get out more! Fatties you look repulsive, do something about it!

      • In reply to Dumpton, I feel so sorry for people that have a medical problem, such as Scot Chegg, who commented previously.

        It just shows your very little understanding in the situation.

        Some, but not all, can do something about their weight. But, what’s your excuse when it comes to the low intelligence. You obviously can’t do anything about that.

  4. DUMPTON & PETER CHECKSFIELD, you shouldn’t comment and judge everyone the same. You are totally incorrect, not everyone is overweight because they can’t stop eating (although some are).

    I have been between 10 and 11 stone all my life, running marathons, boxing, swimming, much fitter than the average person, ARE YOU?

    Then the extreme fitness caused heart and kidney problems, which means my heart is not strong enough to pump fluids around my body, and my kidneys now leak into my bloodstream, causing weight gain.

    So from trying to do the right thing and keep fit, actually caused my problems.

    Don’t judge everyone when you don’t have the facts or knowledge to do so.

    • We DO have the facts and knowledge for this particular person. If you read the article instead of just the comments, she was eating “high calorie foods that tend to be laden with oils, fats and sugars” (it doesn’t say whether or not she was running marathons or doing boxing, though I suspect not).

      • But don’t be ignorant, and accuse everyone who is overweight, of overeating. This is not the case at all. Yes, there are many people who can be described as a “slob” eating too much, and not moving enough.

        But don’t be a clown, and assume this is the case for everyone.

    • As a matter of interest , are you saying that your devotion to extreme fitness resulted in heart and kidney problems?

      • LC

        That is correct, by working your body too hard, resulting in too much creatinine (Albumin Creatinine Ratio), being released, as explained by consultants. The average person should register less than 2.9, mine clocks a massive 176.

        Look it up.

        • Thanks for the reply ( and from CS) , when you look back do you see that you’d pushed yourself too hard for too long?

          • Hi LC, no I was just enjoying being fit, especially as we are told to keep fit, but it obviously didn’t pay off for me. I had so much pride in being so fit.

            (What did you mean by CS?)

      • In reply to LC, my son also has the same creatinine problems, after fitness training in the army. Eventually relating in weight gain, due to kidney problems.

  5. Good job there are people like Peter Checksfield and Dumpton around, otherwise we would have nobody to laugh at.

  6. This is misleading. While I congratulate her on her weight loss, rice, potatoes and pasta are NOT protein foods. They are carbohydrates. Unlimited consumption of carbohydrates is not recommended for people suffering from diabetes.

    • Shreddy, I totally agree with what you are suggesting.

      I thought that perhaps it was just a reporting error, that the lines of the story had become mixed up.

  7. Hey, I’m off to Yukdonalds, we can discuss it there.

    Oh, and of course, bring your own drinks, we can have a party.

  8. Well done please do not listen to all the negative feedback you should be very proud of yourself wishing you happy and healthy new year good luck

  9. What an inspiration and I an under the Dr for my weight. I do not overeat now but have always put on weight very easily. As a child my siblings and I ate the same amount but I was the biggest. My mother was the same.

  10. Right, I have read all the comments up to here, and firstly Scot Chegg, and the rest of you, I used to box nearly 60 years ago in the army, mostly because the team received good food, carefully worked out for our fighting weights(We got an extra breakfast) We did circuit training for 15 rounds, plus long runs, every day, some people still had to go up an extra weight though! Until I was 73 I had been swimming a mile every other day for over 20 years, in and out of the pool inside an hour, including a shower before and after, and riding a bike more or less every day, for business and pleasure (still do)

    Secondly, I do not buy all this nonsense that many people are overweight or obese due to medical reasons! If you have nut allergy, you would be really stupid to eat nuts wouldn’t you? If it hurts when you bang your head against a brick wall, you would stop banging your head against a brick wall wouldn’t you? So, if you have a medical condition that makes you put on weight, get the correct diet, and stop eating food that makes you put on weight, simples! I knew someone who ate all the right food, yet was overweight, why? Answer, She ate too much of it!

    • DUMPTON,

      what a hero you are, and an uneducated ignorant twat.

      You are not the only person around with a military background.

      When you waffle about your rubbish, if your head hurts don’t bang it, etc etc, what a short memory you have. Young men have died while fitness onstraining in the army, for a whole range of different reasons. Yet, they still continue to train people using the same methods, you are an insult to these people, and also to anyone who actually has an education, unlike yourself.

        • Dumpton has obviously been dumped-on, with his little understanding of medical issues. As described on here, some people are just lazy, and eat too much, but others have medical issues.

          It sounds like Dumpton (Dumped-on) also has some medical issues, but I won’t go into detail on here, but you should seek some professional help.

  11. Hey Scot Chegg, I reckon the uneducated DUMPTON, has made a further mistake, I suspect he probably means Trumpton. I bet he’s standing in front of his TV with his old video cassettes, “Hugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew” need I carry on?

  12. Dumpton we didn’t fool for your comments, it’s not April fools day.

  13. I have hesitated to say this, but Scot Chegg said I am not the only one around who has a military background. Scot, I am in my 8th decade, and went into the army unwillingly in 1960, national service ended in 1963! Women stopped doing national service after the war! A few years ago the British Legion ran an appeal for those of us who had served to attend the National Arboretum to commerate the dead, I signed up to go, but instead had an angina attack, and was told it would be unwise to attend! In the event only 38 survivors went, although there may have been more, who like me couldn’t. One last thing Scott, what do you think is the worst word of command that can ever be given by an officer? I will tell you, Its Fix Bayonets! Something that troubles me to this day, over 60 years later!

    • Dumpton, you really are some kind of an idiot, what has this got to do with losing weight?

      Absolutely nothing, you just want to try and be a hero, as suggested previously.

      I know it is difficult to get appointments during these Covid times, but have you tried seeking some medical help for your mental health problems?

      • The point I was making Scott, is that many of us who experienced difficult and often dangerous life threatening times, get over it, and don’t need any medical help! All those fatties out there, should do the same, and stop eating comfort food, and instead get a life! There are many ex service, mostly men, who do need help managing their PTSD, but they can get help now, which wasn’t available in my time! I have never felt the need to overeat!

  14. I say good on you Anne -Marie…keep it up to get healthier. 100% eat healthy, exercise and be happy xxx

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