AN embarrassment to her children and a social outcast – this is how a 21 stone Ongar mum of two felt before making the effort to change her life.
Jo Keating, of The Johns, has lost more than seven stone in the past year and in the process has gone from a woman trapped in her own home to an active, healthy eating, outgoing person.
The 37-year-old, who is a full-time carer to her paraplegic husband Mark, 39, shed the pounds after joining Ongar's Slimming World group, which meets weekly at Budworth Hall in the High Street.
Mrs Keating said: "I didn't want to leave the house, I didn't go out to meet people and if I had to go to a family gathering I would try my best to go unnoticed – which isn't easy when you are 21 stone.
"My kids were about to start secondary school – I felt like an embarrassment and thought they would end up being bullied.
"I could barely walk down the street to go to the shops. The example I set for my children was terrible."
Mrs Keating, who has cared for her husband for the past 15 years, did not think she could lose weight and called herself an "emotional eater".
"I had tried it before and it went nowhere," she said. "It just wasn't the right time, when I turned up at the Slimming World group I had no real hope, but when I met the people and started talking to the group it just clicked.
"Everything fell into place and I started to believe that I could really do it.
"Before I lost the weight I thought my only option would be medical intervention.
"I was despairing – I didn't want to go through an operation.
"I didn't want to be a burden on the NHS – that is how people would view it and I can understand why."
She added: "My message to anyone else who is overweight is to just not lose hope. It has to be the right time, so if it doesn't work out at first, keep at it."
Mrs Keating is the mother of two 12-year-old twins, a boy called Owen and a girl called Abbi, and she is now enjoying a much better relationship with them thanks to the weight loss.
She said: "I am far more active, which in turn makes my kids more active.
"We are now a healthy family and I feel much better about myself.
"Before I never used to make anything – I would just eat processed food.
"This meant my kids were eating unhealthily as well.
"Now I make meals from scratch.
"I feel so much happier and this has really helped when it comes to the kids.
"I get involved with their lives, we go out and have fun."
She added: "Losing weight has made me a better parent."
Mrs Keating is dedicated to keep on dropping the pounds and hopes to lose at least two stone more in the future.
Tracy Stringer has run the Slimming World groups at both Brentwood and Ongar for the last five years.
She said: "Jo has just been inspirational for all the members.
"She turned up to every session – good day or not."
