As the new year beckons, thoughts turn to changes you want to make in 2025. New Year’s resolutions are commonplace around this time of year and range from a myriad of things like gossiping less, travelling more, picking up a hobby or quitting vaping.
Regardless of the resolution, the decision to change something in your life takes time, discipline, resilience and mental fortitude. Throughout 2024, the M.E.N. has highlighted stories of people exhibiting these extraordinary traits to ditch their unhealthy habits and lose weight.
Below is a list of the people in Greater Manchester who turned their lives around after getting a wake up call.
‘I turned my ’embarrassing’ life into Tik Tok fame’
Tom felt unhappy before
(Image: Tom Leonard-White)
The simple motion of bending down to get in to a car turned Tom Leonard-White’s life upside down. The 38-year-old was left bed ridden for three weeks after slipping a disc trying to enter his vehicle – relying on his husband for everything from meals to bathing.
Tom had barely healed when he suffered yet another slipped disc just eight months later. This time, the accounts manager learned his chances of injury were much higher because of his weight.
Tom, who tipped the scales at 20st 12lbs at the time and fit into size XXL tops, said: “It was utterly mortifying and my husband had to literally do everything for me.”
Tom, from the High Lane area of Stockport, had always struggled with his weight. He had experimented with various fad diets over the years but nothing seemed to help him slim down. He decided to sign up to Slimming World online in 2022 and managed to lose two stone.
When his weight plateaued, he chose to attend face-to-face group sessions and went on to shed a total of 5st 5lbs. To further his health journey, Tom taught himself how to cook healthy meals to avoid ordering takeaways every night and began uploading his creations to his TikTok account @Slim.Kitchen. Incredibly, he now has almost 70,000 followers.
Read more about Tom and his Tik Tok success here.
Mum who hid behind Snapchat filters now looks unrecognisable
Leah was self-conscious about her weight
(Image: Leah Gill)
Leah Gill was so self-conscious about her weight that she struggled to leave the house and could not post a picture of herself without a Snapchat filter. Leah’s unhealthy relationship with food meant she constantly fluctuated between binge eating and eating nothing at all.
The 34-year-old, from Stockport, always opted for beige oven food alongside eating whatever her children had left on their plates. Her unhealthy habits meant the mum-of-six also developed asthma – the condition being so severe she had to use an inhaler multiple times a day and caught chest infections several times a month.
“If I did have photos taken, I would use Snapchat with a filter to avoid looking as bad,” she told the MEN. “Looking back on my weight loss journey and trying to find ‘before’ photos, I’ve realised I don’t have many because I always avoided them. What’s more upsetting is that I haven’t got many photos with my children to capture those memories.”
The school club supervisor eventually decided to turn things around for good ahead of a family holiday – fearing she would need to ask for a seatbelt extender on the plane. Leah puts her success down to attend Slimming World classes, walking to work, meal planning and going to aqua aerobics classes.
Leah’s full story can be found here.
Stockport man sheds 9 STONE after Gulliver’s World theme park ride embarrassment
Reece before and after his dramatic weight loss transformation
(Image: Family handout/PA Real Life)
Reece Cotton, 33, from Stockport, felt “embarrassed” after he struggled to fit on rollercoaster rides due to his size. The machine operator had spent his twenties and early thirties indulging in unhealthy eating habits, including regular takeaways and snacks, consuming a whopping 4,000 calories a day.
With a size XXL and a 44-inch waist, Reece thought he was comfortable with his weight until a trip to Gulliver’s World Theme Park in August 2023 proved otherwise. The reckoning moment arrived when he stepped onto the scales and saw that he weighed 20st 2lb (128.7 kg). He confessed: “I didn’t realise I was that heavy, and I just knew I had to lose some weight.”
At 5ft 7in (1.70m) tall, his BMI was a staggering 44.2, categorising him as severely obese. In the ensuing months, he made the decision to eliminate snacks from his diet entirely.
That same month, he joined Man V Fat, a weight-loss programme specifically designed for men, which includes weekly football games. By September 2024 he had dropped to an impressive 5st (31.8 kg), becoming at a svelte 11st (69.9 kg) and comfortably fitting into medium-sized attire. He boasted a trim 30-inch (76 cm) waistline. A break up with his girlfriend in October served as further motivation for his weight loss journey.
Now, with a BMI registering at 24.3, Reece sits healthily within the ideal weight range. He’s riding a high of newfound confidence and wellness, although admits there is a twinge of self-consciousness over the loose skin left behind.
He shared: “I’m a bit conscious of the excess skin when I go swimming and stuff like that, and I struggle being confident with that. But I’m hoping the gym will help a bit with that, or having surgery if I can afford it, because I think that’s the only thing that really helps get rid of it.”
Read more about Reece’s story here.
‘I lost a stone in four weeks with this one change – anyone with a garden can do it’
Emma McGarry
(Image: Emma McGarry)
Before her transformative weight loss, Emma McGarry had struggled with her size for years and admitted that she was “completely addicted to food” – gorging on on takeaways as a source of comfort.
The mum, from the Shaw area of Oldham, tipped the scales at almost 20 stone at her heaviest and was a dress size 24. At the peak of her weight struggles, the 38-year-old was also dealing with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition causing pain and tenderness throughout her body. Her symptoms, worsened by her size, prevented her from playing with her young son.
The mum decided enough was enough and signed up to Slimming World in June 2016 – going on to lose a stone in just four weeks. Through following a food plan and walking up and down her garden, Emma eventually lost more than an eye-watering 10 stone – weighing in at at 9st 4Ibs while being a dress size 10.
Emma, who previously worked as an ambulance emergency call handler, told the Manchester Evening News: “I couldn’t get on the floor with my son or walk him to the park. I just wanted to be able to play with him. He was only four at the time.
“I thought ‘enough is enough’. I had gone to pain management classes. I had done everything and everywhere told me the pain would be easier to manage if I lost the weight.”
Read about Emma here.
‘The horrifying moment after becoming a new dad I knew I had to change’
Lee Earnshaw changed his life around after becoming a father
(Image: Lee Earnshaw)
Lee Earnshaw reached his heaviest ever weight after spending years gorging on unhealthy foods and avoiding exercise. The 35-year-old, from Whitefield, ordered takeaways up to three times a week and felt so lethargic he often took naps during the day.
The commissioning officer says he felt “embarrassed” about his size and found himself constantly needing to buy larger clothes. But Lee says everything changed when he stepped on the scales and realised he weighed 21 stone – giving him the motivation he needed to turn things around for good.
“After becoming a father for the first time during Covid, I realised I hadn’t done any exercise for well over nearly a year to 18 months with being stuck in the house,” he told the Manchester Evening News. Lee decided to join a gym but struggled to get into a new routine, but then found men’s health group Man v Fat and he says he hasn’t “looked back since.”
Incredibly, through regularly attending games, Lee went on to shed more than six stone in just five months – tipping the scales at 14st 8lbs.
Lee’s full story can be seen here.
‘The embarrassing moment at my work Christmas party that changed my life’
Lynda Leadbetter helped others lose weight
(Image: Lynda Leadbetter)
Lynda Leadbetter understands the challenges of weight loss more than most. As the founder of her very own slimming group, the 55-year-old has dedicated years of her life helping others reach their health goals.
But her journey wasn’t easy – the business owner once faced her own personal struggles when it came to shedding the pounds. Lynda, from Cheshire, weighed around 15st 10lbs at her heaviest and struggled with low confidence and tiredness.
Years of overeating and a sedentary lifestyle meant she eventually became a dress size 20 – a transformation that left her unable to recognise herself in photos. And there was one moment at a work Christmas party that left her feeling self-conscious about her appearance, making her realise something needed to change for good.
“I went to a Christmas party and was so embarrassed by my size that I stayed in a corner all night not wanting to get up or draw attention to myself,” she told the M.E.N.
Lynda went on to join a local slimming group and lost more than 4.5st. Wanting to help others achieve their goals, Lynda set up her own weight loss group in 2019. But with the arrival of the pandemic disrupting her routine, Lynda gained two stone and found herself struggling to fit into size 14 clothes.
Lynda eventually lost the two stone she had gained and continues to thrive helping others reach their dreams.
Her story can be read here.