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A Lawrence woman says Weight Watchers is now a way of life for her.
Gillian May (33) has been rewarded for her efforts, winning the New Zealand Leader Slimmer of the Year and the overall prize of Australasian Leader Slimmer of the Year, after maintaining her goal weight of 55kg during 2008.
The leaders' awards were presented at a Weight Watchers leaders' conference in Auckland earlier this month.
Mrs May, who has been a member of Weight Watchers since 1999, established Weight Watchers in Lawrence in January 2007 with co-leader Sara McTavish.
‘‘Last year in November I had put on 24kg during my pregnancy with my third daughter,'' Mrs May said.
‘‘That was really quite tough. Here I was running a meeting and helping people in supporting their weight loss and I was putting on weight again.''
Mrs May, who is 1.58m tall (5ft2''), had previously reached her goal weight of 55kg after putting on 27kg when she was pregnant with her first daughter, but managed to lose weight to be a bridesmaid for her friend. ‘‘It was very short-lived.''
She gained another 19kg when she was pregnant with her second daughter. Once she started the meetings with Mrs McTavish in Lawrence, the two found it easy to lose the extra weight.
However, after falling pregnant with her third daughter she again put on weight. ‘‘I went from 55kg back up to 79kg.''
Weight Watchers has a breastfeeding programme available for mothers once their babies are seven weeks old. ‘‘I lost 14kg before returning to the [breastfeeding] programme.''
‘‘I then lost a further 10.4kg to return to my goal in May of this year. ‘‘Since then I have been maintaining my weight and enjoying the extra energy I have.''
Mrs May's motivation has been her three young daughters, Rylee (4), Alyssa (2) and Caitlyn (1).
‘‘I want them only to know me as fit and healthy.''
She makes sure she walks for an hour three or four times a week, along with making good food choices and watching portion sizes.