WATCHING last year's Bournemouth Race for Life helped inspire Sue Bliss to lose nearly 10 stone so she could take part in this year's event.
Now the super-dieter is getting ready to walk the 5km course between the piers on Bournemouth seafront in aid of Cancer Research on June 23.
"I had already started dieting and lost about three or four stone when I went to cheer on a friend from work who'd had breast cancer and was in the Bournemouth race last year," she said.
"I saw that people were walking it, not just running, and thought: 'When I've lost weight, I could do that'. It just gave me that extra incentive to carry on."
Sue, of Strouden Park, Bournemouth, had found the extra pounds creeping on over the years.
"I had a problem with my knees and with going upstairs. At work, we only have two flights of stairs, but I was having to stop on the first landing because I was out of puff," she recalled.
"I went away on holiday in October 2000 and I was having trouble getting into our caravan. I had always thought I was happy that size, but I suddenly thought: 'I've got to do something about it when I get home'.
"I was only 48 and I thought if I wasn't careful, I would be in a wheelchair by the time I was 50."
Back in Bournemouth Sue plucked up the courage to go to a Slimming World class in Muscliffe. "It was the best thing I ever did. I went there and admitted I wasn't just overweight or big-boned, I was fat."
Sue weighed in at 26 stone and was sponsored to lose the first three stone to raise money for Children in Need.
She admits she occasionally fell by the wayside. "My downfall is pastry, particularly Cornish pasties, and bread. I also love potatoes, but on some days I can have as many as I like."
Sue now walks three miles a day, has an exercise machine and has so far lost 9 stone 9.5 lbs. She has even developed a taste for food she previously did not like, including celery and sweetcorn.
When she reaches her initial target of losing 10 stone, she plans to celebrate on holiday with a real Cornish pasty.
"I'm so much fitter now. I was jolly before, but I'm happy in myself. The best thing is that I must be on my third wardrobe of clothes.
"Before I was a size 32 and could only ever go to Evans. Now I'm an 18 to 20 and can go anywhere to buy clothes."
Sue is thinking of continuing her healthy eating and exercise plan to lose another stone and get down to a size 16.
"I'm really pleased and proud. Sometimes I think: 'Why didn't I do it years ago?', but I don't think I was ready."
She is looking forward to taking part instead of just spectating at this year's Race for Life.
"When I went down to cheer on my friend, it just felt nice. It wasn't competitive - each person was there for a specific reason, to help somebody or because someone they knew had had cancer."
l More than 1,600 women and girls have so far entered this year's Bournemouth Race for Life, twice as many as at the same stage last year.
To join them in raising money for Cancer Research UK, enter online at www.raceforlife.co.uk, or ring the hotline on 08705 134314.
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