Dieting fans in league of their own

Burgers and hot dogs after a Walsall FC match used to be something that Steve Shaw and Nicola Turner looked forward to.

However, since starting a joint diet, they have lost almost five stone between them and are now careful about what they eat.

The couple, who live in Chase Road, Burntwood, are getting married in June at the Walsall FC ground and Nicola says they were determined to lose weight.

They joined the Hammerwich group of Slimming World in December last year and have taken just three months to shed the flab and be named the group's couple of the year 2011.

Nicola, who has been overweight since her teens and Steve, a 49-year-old BG engineer, who has been overweight for 20 years said they had tried all sorts of diets but had no success.

Steve, who has lost three stone, going from 19 stone to 16, used to wear XXL tops and is now down to just a large.

"I haven't been this small for over 20 years and I love buying new clothes," said Steve.

"We were both fed up with our weight and we knew we couldn't carry on letting it get in the way of our lives.

"It was affecting everything — our health, our confidence and our ability to have fun with our two-year-old son Oliver."

Steve had learned his cholesterol was above the recommended levels and he already suffered from high blood pressure.

Nicola, 24, a physiotherapy assistant, has lost 1st 8lb from her starting weight of 14st 2lb and dropped from size 18 to size 14 clothes.

Nicola says that doing the diet together helped them to lose their weight quickly.

"We were quite competitive and each week waited to see who had lost the most," she said.