EVERY day was the same for Emma Swindels just a few years ago. She would order bacon sandwiches for breakfast, supermarket meal deals for lunch, and pizza and chicken nuggets for dinner.
Weighing more than 22st (140kg), she was utterly miserable – unable to even climb the stairs or take her kids to the park due to her colossal size. Yet Emma couldn’t seem to shift her excess weight.
However, that all changed when she deleted the Uber Eats app from her phone.
In just 18 months, she shed a staggering 9st (57kg) – and felt better than ever.
Emma, 41, even had the confidence to slip into a bikini on holiday.
The mum-of-three, from Easington, County Durham, tells Sun Health: “I was so large I didn’t even want to go to the shops.
SHAPE-SHIFTER
My dieting obsession destroyed my insides – then I shed 30lbs in WEEKS
WEIGHT OFF
The 5 diets that mimic weight loss jabs – without the side effects or cost
“I was so embarrassed about my weight that I would order from Uber Eats every single day.
“I’d order my breakfast and lunch. Even if I needed a pint of milk, instead of going to the shops I would order £20 worth of shopping to be delivered on the app.”
Emma started piling on the pounds after giving birth to her son Daniel in 2020 during lockdown, and then splitting from her partner.
“I comfort ate after my relationship ended, and gained a massive 10st in just three years,” she says.
Most read in Diet & Nutrition
“I’d easily munch my way through three bags of crisps and cheese in an evening.
“I was more of a savoury person rather than having a sweet tooth. And crisps were my biggest downfall.
“It got to the point where I was so large, I couldn’t even climb the stairs without getting out of breath.
“And even walking into the kitchen to wash up after meals was an effort for me.
“I was always breaking out in a sweat.
“I’d be with my mum and she would point out that I’d broken out in a sweat, even doing nothing.”
Emma, who is single, has worked in customer service for Royal Mail for 24 years, and has three children, Olivia, 18, Elliott, 15, and Daniel, five.
While her kids ate healthily, as a busy mum, for breakfast she would eat a bacon sandwich, followed by a meal deal of sandwiches, crisps and pasta pots for lunch, and then pizza or chicken nuggets for dinner.
I swam in the pool in my bikini, which I would have never done before, and it felt amazing
Emma Swindels
“I’d have anything that I could just put in the oven and heat up for dinner,” she says.
“I was too lazy to cook anything healthy.
“I was spending £100 to £150 week just on Uber Eats orders.
“I never went out, everyone just came to see me instead.
“Luckily my children were really good – but I was too fat to take Daniel to the park. I couldn’t even get down on the floor to play with him.
“And we never went on holiday – I didn’t want to leave the house.
“People used to tell me I needed to lose weight, and I’d know they were right, but I was always pretending that everything was OK.”
Emma was so ill in December 2023, that she was bed-bound on Christmas Day – which she blames on her weight.
“If I hadn’t been so fat, I may have been able to shake off the tonsillitis, ear ache and cold quicker and celebrate Christmas with my children instead of being stuck in bed,” she says.
“I had three lots of antibiotics to try to get the infection under control and eventually started to turn a corner.
“But it really shook me up. I knew that I needed to lose weight, I was so fat and unfit. So in January last year, I joined Slimming World.”
The ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ foods
THE Slimming World programme promotes a flexible eating plan, supported by a community of consultants and members in weekly group sessions.
When she started at her local group, Emma weighed 22st 4lbs (142kg), and she had to radically change her diet.
She ditched the Uber Eats app, and instead had scrambled eggs with bacon and cherry tomatoes for breakfast, a tuna or ham and egg salad for lunch, followed by a homemade chicken stir fry, curry or spaghetti bolongese for dinner.
Her go-to snacks include berries and yoghurt, bananas and Hi-Fi bars, though she tries not to eat between meals.
“I was determined to cook from scratch instead of being lazy and putting processed food in the oven,” Emma says.
“I went to the gym twice a week too. Now I go four times to do resistance training.
“I always used to be active until I fell pregnant with Daniel, so I felt like I was getting some of the old me back.
“I was nervous about starting Slimming World, but everyone was so lovely and made me feel at ease as soon as I arrived, which was such a help and made everything a lot easier.
“I was so surprised that cooking from scratch was as easy as it was, and I learnt so much about which were the right and wrong foods to eat.”
The weight started to fall off her, and this month Emma hit her 9st weight loss target, taking her down to a much slimmer 13st 6lbs (85kg).
She says: “I feel like a different person.
“I’ve still got some way to go – my target is 13st – but now I’m always out of the house instead of stuck inside it.
“This summer I took the children away to Center Parcs and it was our first summer holiday all together.
“I swam in the pool in my bikini, which I would have never done before, and it felt amazing.
“I couldn’t have done it without the support of my Slimming World group. I’ve made some lovely friends there.
“Ditching my Uber Eats app was the best thing I could have done for myself.
“I’ve not only ditched the app, but I’ve also ditched 9st too.”
Emma’s 4 ‘slimming rules’ to live by
- Delete Uber Eats – or any other fast food app that encourages you to scoff high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar processed meals.
- Cook from scratch – buy whole foods which you can prepare at home, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Join Slimming World – or any other weight loss support group which meets in person.
- Join a gym – try to go twice a week (or find another type of exercise that works for you) and walk as much as possible to get your body moving, burn calories and build strength.