A playgroup manager from Peel who lost 10 stone has appeared on the front page of weightwatchers magazine.

Approached by the health and fitness magazine and having a special photoshoot in London was something Sarah Vincent never expected to do.

Sarah, who runs Peel Playgroup, told the Examiner that the magazine contacted her in mid-December through her Instagram page - which is dedicated to tracking her weightloss and supporting others losing weight.

The mother-of-three can now be seen on the glossy May cover at check-out aisles across the UK and island with thousands being encouraged by her weight loss story.

’They flew me over to London for the shoot on February 19. I almost turned it down because I was scared, but I’m so glad I didn’t,’ she said.

’The photoshoot was amazing. It took place in a studios at Shoreditch in London. I was so nervous, but the whole team were so kind and made me feel so comfortable.’

She called it ’totally surreal’ seeing the results in the published edition.

’I feel so grateful to be able to share a tiny part of my journey and hard work with other people who might have felt the same as I did.

’I also feel really proud. I was scared of sharing my story in case I felt embarrassed, but now I just hope that it encourages and empowers others to believe in themselves that they can achieve goals too if they work hard for them.

’I really wanted my overall message of the article to be that a number on the scale doesn’t define you. Our worth is based on so much more than that and isn’t skin deep, but that you can be the healthiest version of yourself and achieve your goals.’

Sarah said she was overweight in her childhood and struggled with emotional eating throughout her teenage and adult life.

’I had tried every "diet" going and always failed. I’d just convinced myself that this was my shape and the way it was,’ she added.

After having her youngest child, she decided to join her mother in trying to lose weight as she was the heaviest she’d ever been.

Confidence

She said: ’I had zero hope that I’d keep off what I’d lost, but I researched a lot online and found healthy ways of thinking about size, weight and food.

’I learnt that no guilt or shame should be attached to eating any type of food or enjoying food and the same with what size or shape you are.

’I learnt to accept myself as I was and to take the pressure off myself to fit into an ideal weight or size category.

’I’ve always loved my life at every size and I started to enjoy the weightloss journey I was on.’

Her confidence grew when she dropped dress sizes and she enjoyed forming healthier eating habits and cooking more.

’It’s taken two-and-a-half years, but now I’ve lost 10 stone,’ she said.

’I always felt the mountain was too high to climb and that I’d never do it, but I’ve done it and others can to.’