Teacher loses six stone in just 18 months

At the beginning of last year, Emma Byrne (32) was 17-and-a-half stone and fitted into size 24 clothes.

Now a slim size 12, Emma said she is enjoying shopping in fashion stores.

Speaking about when she was bigger, she said that: "When a wedding invite used to come in the door, the first thing I would wonder was what was I going to wear and where would I buy it."

Emma joined her local Slimming World group for Ringsend and Irishtown last March, just two months after she got a new job teaching a senior infants class at St Patrick's Boys NS in Ringsend. "There was a lot on the curriculum about health and exercise. I wasn't happy with my weight, and I decided to do something about it," she said.

She said that from the moment she joined her local Slimming World group, her consultant, Pamela Malone, was very encouraging. "There is a great community spirit in the group," she revealed.

"I used to have three take-aways a week. Now I make things from scratch. It's just a healthy lifestyle. It will be part of my life from now on," said Emma, who lives on Pearse Street.

She is now set to attend the finals of the Slimming World Woman of the Year competition in October in the UK.

Emma, who has a three-year-old son Cian (3), said that her husband David has been very supportive.

fdillon@herald.ie