BEING the best at losing wouldn’t normally help you to scoop an award — yet one woman from Launceston has done just that after being named ‘greatest loser’ 2018 in her Slimming World group.

That’s because Dawn Parnell has lost a life-changing six stone to take the title, which is awarded to the member of the group who has lost the most weight, and feels fabulous as a result.

Dawn said: “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a loser when it feels this good! I feel like a new woman since losing weight — in fact, I look so different that people who I haven’t seen for a while often can’t believe I’m the same person. For me though it’s the change on the inside that’s been the greatest — I’m happier, healthier and much more confident now.”

The proud 52-year-old joined the St John’s Ambulance Hall 7pm group, which is run by Kate Elston, in July 2016. Dawn said: “My weight impacted on so many aspects of my life, from struggling to find clothes that I like to fit to not being able to do simple everyday tasks without feeling tired and out of breath. Before I lost the weight I hated having my photo taken and whenever I saw pictures of myself I knew that my smile wasn’t real — yet now I’m beaming!”

Dawn’s weight was also putting a huge strain on her health. She suffered with high blood pressure, back pain, painful knees and got breathless easily. People who are severely overweight, with a BMI above 30, are more likely to suffer from health problems like coronary heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and cancer, and obesity is linked to a reduction in life expectancy of between seven and nine years.

After hearing about Slimming World from her daughter, Dawn decided to join her local group at St John’s Ambulance Hall. She said: “Walking through those doors was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, I was embarrassed about my size and scared that I might be the biggest person there. I needn’t have worried though, everyone there was so friendly, especially my consultant Kate, and I was so relieved when I found out that my weight was confidential — I’d had visions of having to tell everyone how much I weighed!

“Since then I’ve made so many friends at the group and I honestly don’t think I could have done it without their support each week. They helped me with recipes and tips and if I was ever struggling they were always there to remind me why I’d wanted to lose weight in the first place and how far I’d come since first stepping through the doors.”

Dawn has followed the club’s food optimising eating plan and swapped lots of ready meals for delicious home cooked meals, like curries and spaghetti bolognaise.

After struggling to do any activity before, Dawn’s also more active nowadays and regularly goes swimming and can now walk for miles, feeling so much fitter and healthier.

Each of Slimming World’s 18,000 groups in the UK and Ireland has its own greatest loser 2018 and winners will go forward to the national competition. Dawn is now waiting to find out if she’s in the running for the £3,000 cash prize. She added: “I would love to win but I didn’t lose weight to win a competition, I wanted to feel healthier and better about myself and I’ve definitely done that. I feel great and that’s priceless.”

In fact Dawn was so inspired by the difference that it has made to her life that she now wants to help to support others to do the same and has trained to become a Slimming World consultant and now runs her own group in Launceston too.

Dawn’s group meets every Monday at 9.30am and 7.30pm and Kate’s group meets every Thursday at 10am, 12pm, 5pm and 7pm, both at St John’s Ambulance Hall, Westgate Street. To join call Dawn on 07764 484188 or call Kate on 07974 041548 or pop along.