\n Alison Harkness, 59, is now enjoying walks with her dogs and playing with her grandchildren after dropping four dress sizes and no longer needing walking aids.\n<\/p>\n
\n The retired nurse was diagnosed with fibromyalgia seven years ago and eventually became so affected by chronic pain, fatigue and limited mobility that she had to give up work.\n<\/p>\n
\n At the start of this year she weighed 16-and-a-half stone and joined Slimming World in a bid to improve her health and mobility.\n<\/p>\n
\n Super slimmer Alison (Image: Contributed)\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “I joined due to a mixture of my health and struggling with my mobility.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I have fibromyalgia which causes pain all over.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I take four painkillers a day and a couple of paracetamol.\n<\/p>\n
\n “You struggle to walk or exercise. It’s like a bone pain that is there all the time.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I had to use two walking sticks to get around.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition which causes widespread pain and can also lead to stiffness, severe tiredness and mental health challenges.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alison (Image: Contributed)\n<\/p>\n
\n Alison added: “Some days I didn’t go out because I was too tired or in too much pain.”\n<\/p>\n
\n She said her weight steadily increased due to a combination of medication that caused weight gain, a sweet tooth and being unable to exercise.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now weighing 12st 12lb, Alison says the change has transformed her day-to-day life.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “It’s been life-changing.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It’s been a big confidence boost as I can buy a lot of nice clothes, but more importantly, I don’t need the walking sticks.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I can walk upstairs and not be out of breath.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Alison (Image: Contributed)\n<\/p>\n
\n Although she still takes painkillers, Alison is trying to reduce the amount she relies on them.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “There’s not so much pressure on my joints.\n<\/p>\n
\n “You also get brain fog, so I am still trying to deal with that.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It affects your hands, feet and legs.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The pain will never go away.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Before losing weight, Alison said she could barely walk beyond her front door.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now she enjoys daily walks and believes the change has benefited both her physical and mental health.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “I couldn’t go out for a walk before.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Now I can walk round Parklea. I would say that is my limit.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It has helped my mental health as well.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I am trying to make sure that fibromyalgia doesn’t rule me.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Alison also hopes sharing her story will raise awareness of fibromyalgia, a condition whose symptoms are not always visible despite the significant impact they can have on everyday life.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “You can’t see it, but the pain is there.”\n<\/p>\n
\n She lives with her husband William, 62, and has two daughters, Elle, 34, and Vicky, 32, as well as three grandchildren.\n<\/p>\n
\n One of the biggest differences, she says, is being able to spend more quality time with them.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “Before, I struggled to get up out of the chair and they would help me.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Now I can join in and play with them.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I can enjoy my life more.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Alison credits much of her success to Slimming World consultant Emma Taylor.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alison with Emma (Image: Contributed)\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “She has been very supportive and sends you messages.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was quite scary walking in for the first time to the class, but you were made very welcome.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was like walking in and getting a family hug.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Alison was recently named Slimming World Champion Kilmacolm Woman of the Year and believes the group’s food optimising plan has been key to her success.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “Food Optimising is fab as I can enjoy all the foods I love without the guilt.\n<\/p>\n
\n “There’s no calorie counting and minimal weighing.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Once I joined, I just stuck to the plan.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Alison is now aiming to lose another 12lb to reach her target weight and attends the Slimming World class in Kilmacolm every Friday at 9.30am.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alison Harkness, 59, is now enjoying walks with her dogs and playing with her grandchildren after dropping four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-802307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}