Well done to our inspirational colleague Amanda Wood who's changed her life and amazed colleagues and customers at our Sutton store by losing 11 stone in the last few years.
Amanda joined Weight Watchers in 2013 when she weighed 22 stone nine pounds and was a size 30. Through gradually changing her eating habits, controlling food portions and taking up regular exercise, she's lost half her body weight and now wears either size eight or size ten clothes.
Amanda said that her main motivation for losing the weight came after her brother, who weighed around 25 stone, died in an accident and she was shocked by the size of his coffin.
Amanda, who's 36, has worked at the store for 14 years.
She said: "Some of our newer colleagues didn't know me at my biggest, so when I show them the old photos they're amazed.
"Some customers come up to me and say 'I wasn't sure if that was you'! Others ask how I'm getting on, and give me compliments, which is really nice.
"My brother's death made me want to lose weight, and then a year into my weight loss I went to Kenya on a safari with a group of solo travellers from around the world.
"Before, I would never have travelled on my own. But that trip made me realise I could achieve my goals, I even went on a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti.
"The Weight Watchers app has helped. I've got more than 19k followers. It's hard for me to believe that people want to follow my journey, and that people take inspiration from it, but it's great they do.
"Comparing photos of me taken now to photos of me from 2013 is just mad. I've got so much more confidence now.
"I'm always getting rid of clothes which no longer fit me - shopping for new clothes is one of the best things about losing weight! I love buying funky gym wear.
"I put most of the weight loss down to Weight Watchers and going to the gym. It's all about learning new foods, I eat totally differently to what I used to.
"I used to eat two pies and a plateful of mash for dinner, but now if I have a pie, I'll make my own and have it with celeriac mash or vegetable rice. I used to have big portions and eat lots of ready meals, but now I make my food from scratch."
Amanda started exercising by going swimming and to water aerobics classes and now she does high-impact classes like zumba.
"I've reached my target weight," said Amanda. "I'm now learning to maintain it which is the hard bit.
"Last February I had an arm lift operation to remove excess skin, and in August I had thigh lift. I've had revision surgery on my thighs too to make them look better."
In 2016, Amanda won Weight Watchers' Oprah Winfrey Award For Everlasting Positivity. Oprah picked her out as "that wonderful person who always encourages the people around them, reminding us that our weight loss journeys are about both our minds and bodies". In November of that year she also featured on the cover of Weight Watchers magazine, and also appeared in Baggy Body Club on ITV.
The store's community champion Tracey Jacques has been just one of the colleagues encouraging Amanda.
She said: "Amanda is an inspiration. She's shown that with hard work and determination, you can achieve whatever you put your mind to.
"Colleagues have shown her a lot of support and are in awe of her weight loss. She's a lovely person and everyone here is very proud of her."
