A woman has dropped four dress sizes by ditching diet plans like Weight Watchers and Atkins, and opting to be more mindful of her eating habits instead.
Hilary Marsh, 48, from Cornwall, said her family's history of heart disease scared her into wanting to lose weight. However despite numerous attempts at dieting and hitting the gym, she couldn't seem to shift the pounds.
"I was worried not only about the excess weight, but the fact that our family has a history of heart disease," she said. "I lost both my parents too soon and a brother at the age of 41.
"It was time to do something about it."
After joining the gym and starting to diet, Marsh realised she wasn't losing as much weight as she'd hoped and became disheartened.
"I joined a gym, which I went to regularly, but for some reason I was just unable to lose the weight," she said. "It was the food element that I struggled with. I had tried every diet going from Weight Watchers and Slimming World to Atkins and juicing.
"I would lose a few pounds, feel great, then pile it all back on plus more."
After numerous failed attempts to shift the weight, Marsh started to believe she was destined to stay "big" forever.
It was then she won a Facebook competition to attend a place at The Body Retreat.
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Marsh was told to change her lifestyle and behavioural patterns to help her lose weight. She was also educated on how to get rid of food cravings and to understand how mood and stress affects hunger
She said: "I had been working my body too hard and not fuelling it correctly.
"All the rubbish I had drummed into me over the past 20 years about diets was thrown out the window.
"It was like somebody telling you straight common sense facts for a change. You hear it and see it for yourself while there.
"Yes admittedly the first time we sat down to dinner I thought I was getting a starter sized portion, which was a shock I can tell you, but you soon learn to eat what your body needs... Not what your brain wants."
Hilary Marsh before losing weight
She added: "The behaviour and nutrition workshops were a real eye opener and were great as they helped me see how I could make it work once I got back home to the 'real world'."
In her first four days at the retreat, Marsh lost 7lbs. She then continued their home programme and has since dropped four dress sizes, from a size 22 to a size 14.
"I am so thrilled that after all this time my body is beginning to react the way I wanted it to," she said.
"The retreat enabled me to set my head and body straight and it has set me up to lead a healthier lifestyle for the rest of my life. I can’t wait to attend my daughter’s wedding next year as her ‘yummy mummy’ and make her proud."
She added: "Do you know what the best feeling is though, it’s when your husband says he has the woman he married back.
"That just gives me the encouragement to carry on this journey and see it through to the end."