When Dundee mum Jade Sparks saw photographs of herself at a family celebration she was shocked at how big she looked.
The 32-year-old, who tipped the scales at 16 and a half stone, had spent years feeling depressed about her size and worried about her health.
But it was only after seeing the snap taken at her mum’s birthday dinner in November 2022 that the hairdresser vowed to finally do something about it.
A year on, Jade has lost an impressive four and a half stone after joining her local Slimming World group and says the wake-up call changed her life.
“I just looked at the photos and thought to be the best mum I can be, I need to get healthier in my body to help me feel healthier in my mind,” she explained.
“I was also thinking I need to lose the weight to take the pressure off my heart, as well as preventing all these other things which can come along with being overweight, like diabetes.
“I didn’t actually realise how overweight I had become until I was sent these photographs.”
The pivotal moment came after a difficult few years for Jade who has a daughter Ella, 7, son Roman, 3, and two step-sons, Aidan, 19, and Nairn,13.
She had been battling depression after the birth of Roman, in April 2020, as well as losing her dad, Gary, who passed away in 2016.
“My dad was a bit overweight and passed away from a massive heart attack when he was just 51,” she said.
“I later found out that his dad had also had a heart attack, but he survived.
“I was worried this might be hereditary. This gave me another reason why I wanted to improve my health.
“Then I had my son just four weeks into lockdown and he had a milk allergy so he just cried constantly.
“I wasn’t able to get a lot of support from family because we weren’t allowed with it being during the pandemic. Everything just kind of bubbled from there.
“Losing my dad hit me hard and I had so much going on that I didn’t have a chance to properly grieve for him.
“I just went into a depression that got deeper and deeper.
“It resulted in me putting on a lot of weight.”
What kinds of food did Jade used to eat?
In June 2020, Jade went to the doctors and was prescribed antidepressants.
And she turned to food for comfort, bingeing on sugary snacks and junk food.
She said: “I was living on biscuits and coffees and cups of tea with two sugars in them.
“I would either skip lunch if I wasn’t working or have a ham sandwich on white bread with a packet of crisps if I was at work.
“For my dinner I was having takeaways the majority of the time.
“This could be Chinese, Indian, fast food, McDonald’s things like that.”
Over the years Jade, who works at Frances Ree Hairstylists in Broughty Ferry, tried every single diet under the sun but would soon lose motivation.
“I have done crash diets, shake diets, diet pills – I have tried everything to shed the pounds,” she said.
“I had even tried Slimming World before, but just kind of fell off it and thought I can’t do this.
“With all of these diets the most I have ever lost is a stone.”
Walking into her local slimming group
But when Jade walked into her local Slimming World group, in The Friary on Tullideph Road, in January 2023, she was determined that this time would be different.
“I walked through the door completely on my own and I just thought to myself: Let’s do this,” Jade said.
“I met Rhonda who runs the group and everyone who was there was really nice.
“They were all on the same journey as me.
“Having the support in that group was just incredible.”
Her consultant Rhonda Mitchell gave her a meal plan and helped to keep Jade on track with her diet for the first month.
She set herself an initial target of losing a stone which she managed to do in five weeks.
As Jade continued to progress, she set herself a goal of losing four and a half stone which she reached in November.
She said: “I have now lost a total of four stone eight pounds and I feel amazing.”
Jade said she found it easy to follow the Slimming World weight-loss plan.
“I just make better choices now,” she explains.
“Before if I would have a Chinese meal, I would probably have sweet and sour chicken in batter with fried rice and prawn crackers.
“Whereas, now I will have beef in black bean sauce with boiled rice and not have the prawn crackers.
“I don’t completely deprive myself.
“Now I have the foods I enjoy but in moderation.”
As part of her food plan, Jade will typically have toast with brown bread for breakfast.
She has chicken or ham salad with lots of lettuce, tomato and cucumber, onions and beetroot, for lunch.
And for dinner she will have pasta with chicken peppers, onions and mushrooms.
Or she will have homemade spaghetti Bolognese.
Preferring to snack on fruit instead of biscuits
Jade has also swapped sugary snacks for fruit and vegetables which can help speed up the weight loss.
She said: “There are certain vegetables and fruits they class as a “speed food”. These are the foods which will burn off fat the quickest.
“If you can pack as much speed foods into your meals as possible that’s how you are going to lose the most amount of weight.
“Now, instead of grabbing a biscuit, I will just grab a satsuma from my bag. I have always enjoyed fruit.”
Jade doesn’t drink a lot of alcohol but still drinks a lot of diet fizzy juice.
She also allows herself to have some chocolate.
“I still have chocolate, but in moderation,” she says.
How Jade was able to stick to her weight plan
The Dundee mum, who also works as a barmaid at The Logie Club in Dundee at weekends, has dropped three shirt sizes.
Receiving compliments from her work mates spurred her on even more, she says.
The support our her fellow slimming class members along with a weekly weigh-in, has also helped her to succeed.
“My family and my husband Alan have been so supportive too.
“I am now back down to the size I was when I got married eight years ago.”
‘Proud of what I have achieved’
Jade said she is delighted to have hit her target weight of 11 stone 10 lbs.
“I think I will stay at this weight until after Christmas,” she said.
“Then I might try and aim to lose five stone altogether before I finally stop it there.
“I am really proud of myself because I have never been able to stick to anything like this before.”
She added: “I have been off my medication for a year now so I am feeling happier and healthier.
“My confidence is back and it’s better than it’s ever been.”
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