Shrinking Sara sheds half her body weight

Former social worker Sara Chambers Ross tried for years to shift some of her 26st weight after struggling to walk even a few yards without getting out of breath.

But it was a fear of going under the knife that finally inspired her to shed the pounds – and she is now literally less than half the woman she was.

Sara, who grew up in Kidderminster, now weighs 10st 7lb and puts her dramatic weight loss down to hypnosis and changing her attitude to food.

By the time Sara visited her GP in 2009 as a New Years resolution to tackle her weight, she had balloooned to 25st 13lb and attempted numerous diets.

But when the doctor put her on a waiting list for stomach staple surgery the 42-year-old realised she needed to take action.

So she bought a self-help package by weight-loss expert Ali Campbell, who has held life coaching sessions with celebrities including X Factor judge Kelly Rowland.

And she took part in hypnosis sessions where she would try to change her views of her favourite foods by imagining them mixed with something she found disgusting.

She says the help she received kept her committed to her diet where previously she her cravings had got the better of her.

And she was so inspired by her dramatic weight loss that she quit her job as a social worker to become a life coach and help others in her situation.

Sara, who now lives in Church Stretton, Shropshire with her husband John, said: "When I was told I needed surgery I was petrified, so I thought I have got to give myself another chance to lose the weight.

"I started to eat more healthily and it began to work but I knew this would only be temporary until I made a permanent change in my life and attitude.

"That was when I discovered Ali and I finally started to believe that I could lose the weight. One of the techniques is to imagine your favourite foods – in my case chips and crisps – mixed with something really disgusting to stop you wanting them.

"Ali taught me to completely change my relationship with food and got to the root cause of how eating affected my emotions."

And she started following a fitness DVD in her living room – at first she could only manage five minutes but after two months she could do the entire 40-minute workout.

Within weeks she had lost a stone, and the weight has steadily fallen off since.

Sara, who lived in Bewdley Hill, Kidderminster, is returning to the town on January 23 to hold a self-help group and tell her story, joined by Ali Campbell.

The event at the Kidderminster Library meeting rooms runs from 6pm to 8pm. Tickets are £10 in advance and available from Sara on 01694720071.