A sequence of unfortunate life events prompted Sharon Pitkethly to completely transform her health and reduce her weight by half—all without relying on weight loss medication. 

At her maximum weight, the 54-year-old tipped the scales at nearly 27 stone (171.4kg), but after the untimely death of her sister and a catastrophic fire at her home in Newcastle upon Tyne, she was compelled to reevaluate her life. 

In 2015, Mrs Pitkethly—who stands 5″11 tall—reached her heaviest weight, tipping the scales at 26st 12lb. 

She had a severely obese BMI of 52.4, and was forced to wear baggy size 32 clothes. 

As a full-time caregiver, she felt ensnared in a ‘vicious cycle’ of depression, anxiety, and overeating. Witnessing her home ignite in flames provided her with a new outlook on life, motivating her to confront her long-standing weight issues.

She began attending her local WeightWatchers group, and after a decade of meetings and following their meal plans, shed half her body weight.  

Mrs. Pitkethly now weighs 13 stone (82.5kg), wears a size 16, and describes herself as feeling like a ‘new person’ brimming with self-assurance. She achieved her remarkable transformation the ‘traditional’ way by diligently monitoring her food intake and staying active.

Since ‘skinny jabs’ were first introduced in 2017, the demand for injectable weight loss solutions has surged with newer, more potent options becoming a staple in mainstream weight management. 

Among these options is the ‘King Kong’ of appetite suppressants, Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, which became available in the UK via private prescription in February 2023, dramatically changing weight loss approaches. 

The old fashioned weight loss methods of diet, exercise and calorie control went out of the window in favour of weekly injections which silence food noise. 

The prescription-only medication totally removes people’s urge to snack, binge or indulge in calorific food, and helps them lose weight with minimal effort. 

One of the casualties in this shift—other than people’s too-big clothes—were the traditional weight loss groups such as WeightWatchers, which has always promoted a slow and steady approach and a adhering to a healthy lifestyle.  

Earlier this year, the US-based firm found itself struggling under $1.6billion (£1.2billion) of debt after losing business to revolutionary weight loss drugs such as Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy.

However, since its inception in 1963 it has helped millions of people lose weight and keep it off, and with the recent price increases making weight loss medication even more unaffordable, slimmers will be reassured to know there is a cheaper way to lose substantial amounts of weight—as demonstrated by Mrs Pitkethly. 

She believes the fire which changed her life was caused by a tumble dryer, resulting in £200,000 worth of damage.

She recalled: ‘I came back from the school run and smelled smoke—I had a utility room and thought something isn’t right.

‘There was smoke coming out of the dryer and it caught fire, and I just had this beautiful new kitchen, and I opened the back door thinking it would get the smoke out, but it inflamed it.

‘It was a ditsy moment but the whole house was damaged from the fire and smoke.’

Although she was unable to save some family keepsakes, such as photo albums, she was thankful her husband Dean, 60, and children were safe and not in the house.

In the months following the fire, her anxiety worsened, and she felt that returning to WeightWatchers and focusing on her health would provide much-needed distraction.

Over the next eight years, Mrs Pitkethly went on and off the eating plan, struggling with snacking and consistency, but by the end of 2023, she had lost 7st 4lb (46.2kg), dropping four dress sizes, and weighed 19st 8lb (124.2kg) with an obese BMI of 38.2.

She also ‘suffered from depression and social anxiety’, describing it as a ‘vicious circle’.

She explained: ‘The more I got anxious, the more I got depressed, the more I ate, so then I would cry and lose weight, and then I wouldn’t feel very well, or something would happen, and then I would be straight back off the diet.

‘I’d be on for six months, off for three, and I kept putting more and more weight on each time.

 ‘I was pleased with myself that I managed to get to that and to stay there for a while. 

‘It took a long time because I just wasn’t focused and I let myself slip.

‘I knew I needed to lose more but I just fell off.’

When she was ‘off’ her WeightWatchers eating plan, Mrs Pitkethly’s typical daily diet included four crumpets with butter for breakfast, crisps for a mid-morning snack, two sandwiches and crisps for lunch, and a ‘huge portion’ of Bolognese for dinner, followed by more crisps and chocolate in the evening. 

In 2023, her sister, Kaleena, passed away at the age of 45.

Mrs Pitkethly was then determined to lose even more weight in her sister’s memory and joined a new WeightWatchers group.

She explained: ‘On the day she died, I promised her it’d be different this time and lose the weight.

‘I thought I can’t let my mum lose another daughter because she just wasn’t getting over this and my family needed us.

‘So I thought, ‘Right, just do it’.’

Since then, through WeightWatchers, she has lost an additional 6st 8lb (41.7kg), now weighing 13st (82.5kg), with an overweight BMI of 25.4.

She has transformed her diet, goes to the gym and swims regularly.

Her meals now include options such as eggs with low-fat mayonnaise, lettuce and bread thins for breakfast, a protein yoghurt with fruit for lunch and chicken with vegetables for dinner. 

She no longer feels the urge to eat until she is uncomfortably full or snack mindlessly throughout the day.  

Mrs Pitkethly said:  ‘Every time I look in the mirror I see my sister, and I have lost her, but she’s still there.

‘If I’m ever tempted to go off track, I think of her and since I’ve lost weight, I look more like her too—her daughter has told me that they look like their mum.

‘I’ve done it for her, and I know she’d be proud of me.’