Running helped me beat depression AND lose 10st

“I never in a million years thought I’d run a half-marathon one day,” says Penny, 42, a nurse.

She started putting on weight when she was a child and says she was always seen as big.

“At school I was bullied for being overweight. The children would call me ‘Big Penny’.”

By the time she was 13, Penny weighed 13st. “I was told by a dietitian that if I didn’t lose weight then I’d be in a wheelchair by the time I was 30,” she says.

Penny now lives in New Milton, Hampshire, with her children Joshua, 22, Dillon, 15 and 13-year-old Millie.

She found out she was pregnant with Joshua when she was 19.

However after the birth she suffered from postnatal depression and was put on antidepressants.

“Being a single parent at 19 was a lonely experience.

When Joshua was in bed at night and I was on my own I used to eat to make myself feel better.

“I would buy multi-packs of crisps but instead of having one bag, I’d have two or three. “Then because I was worried my mum might come around and notice the crisps were gone, I’d buy more and put them on the shelf. It was a downward spiral.”

As her son grew up, Penny got a job as a cleaner but her tight budget left her with limited food choices.

“I was living on £5 a week so we had frozen sausages and a bag of chips each week because it was cheap. I didn’t realise it was even possible to eat healthy food on a budget.”

In 2003, Penny had Dillon and two years later, her daughter Millie was born.

Then in 2005 she went back to college so she could train as a nurse.

However working long and irregular hours meant she still found it difficult to eat healthily. “Food was a problem for me. I never had an off-switch. I’d often get a huge takeaway pizza and eat the whole thing, or sit and have three chocolate bars one after the other.”

By the time she was in her late 30s, Penny weighed 24st 5lb and although she was 5ft 10in tall, she was a dress size 28.

OVER the years, she had tried every diet she could find yet none of them worked.

At the same time, her mental health was suffering.

She had been on and off antidepressants ever since Joshua was born, but in 2015 she started to have panic attacks too.

“I was going to work one day and I had heart palpitations and trouble breathing.

“I knew exactly what it was because I’m a nurse so I talked myself through it.”

After the first attack, Penny felt constantly anxious. Her thoughts turned again to the idea of losing weight.

“I was due to have an operation on my wrist under general anaesthetic and I was terrif ed they wouldn’t be able to lift me when I was unconscious because I was so big.”

She decided to join Weight Watchers but was so nervous about being weighed that she starved herself for two months before the first meeting.

“I lost 2st before I went to the first meeting because I was so embarrassed about how much I weighed,” she says.

But once she was at the meeting, Penny felt at home.

She started following the Weight Watchers plan on and off and within a year she’d lost 2st more.

Then in December 2016, the approaching new year spurred her on to make more effort to follow her diet.

She stuck rigidly to the plan and tracked everything she ate on the Weight Watchers app. Before long the pounds were falling off.

“I’d always said to people that diets didn’t work but that’s because I never followed them properly,” she says.

“Once I stuck to the plan in earnest, the weight fell off.”

Meanwhile, Penny decided to take up running using the NHS “Couch to 5km” app.

“The first time I went on a run, I did it in the dead of night so nobody would know it was me,” Penny says.

But before long, she got into her stride and completed her first 5k run without stopping.

The exercise boosted her weight loss – in just over a year Penny lost 6st and became a size 14.

“I’d always been the big one in my friendship group, but suddenly my skinny friends were asking to borrow my clothes.

“I have one friend whom I’ve always really admired and one day she asked if she could come on a run with me because she wanted to get fit. I was amazed.”

What’s more, Penny discovered that running helped her mental health.

“Every time I went for a run I felt a sense of achievement. When I set off I would have negative thoughts in my head but by the end of the run I felt better.”

Over time, the natural mood boost brought on by running helped to alleviate Penny’s depression.

“We all have ups and downs in life but I’m dealing with stuff differently to how I did before.

“In the past if I felt low I would have grabbed some food, sat on the couch and done nothing. But now I’ll go for a walk or a run. It has brought out a more confident me.”

In 2017, Penny did two 10k races, then the 10-mile Great South Run.

And in March, a year to the day after she first started running, she completed the inaugural London Landmarks Half Marathon.

“Crossing the finish line felt amazing. I love running now. I’ve got to the point where if I don’t run, I miss it,” she says.

After more than 20 years of being on and off antidepressants, Penny has stopped taking medication for good thanks to taking up running.

“Exercise has changed my life. I’ve even tried things like paddle-boarding as a new way of keeping fit.”

And Penny’s children have noticed the difference too. “The kids are really happy and proud. The whole atmosphere in the house is better now.”

To date, Penny has lost 10st 7lb. She is a trim 13st 12lb and feels better than ever.

“I was fat for 30 years. My whole life I was known as Big Penny but now people walk past me in the street without recognising me.

“But the biggest difference isn’t how I look but how much better I feel. I’m no longer depressed and I’m so much more confident. It’s given me a new lease of life.”

● For more inspirational stories and to learn about Weight Watchers Flex, visit weightwatchers.co.uk