boxing day 2012: 'I keep bursting in to tears of joy in the changing rooms!': Stunning mother-of-three is hitting the sales for the first time in fifteen years after losing nine stone

Thursday, December 27, 2012

'I keep bursting in to tears of joy in the changing rooms!': Stunning mother-of-three is hitting the sales for the first time in fifteen years after losing nine stone

PUBLISHED: 05:52 EST, 27 December 2012 | UPDATED: 06:37 EST, 27 December 2012

A mother-of-three from Essex is celebrating hitting the shops for the first time in 15 years - after shedding over nine stone.

Charlene Cush, 31, tipped the scales at almost 20 stone last year - and was so large the only clothes she could fit in were men's XXXXL jogging bottoms.

Brunette Charlene hadn't worn a dress since she was a schoolgirl and gave up buying women's clothes when she struggled to squeeze into a size 24 but after discovering her teenage daughter was being taunted by bullies because of her size, Charlene, from Waltham Abbey, was shocked into changing her lifestyle.

Essex girl Charlene Cush has lost nine stone after discovering that her teenage daughter was being bullied because of her mother's weight problems

After embarking on a rigorous diet and exercise regime, she has lost almost half her body weight - and now weighs just over 10 stone.

And now for the first time ever size 12 Charlene has been able to hit the January sales with confidence and choose all the glamorous clothes she likes.

Charlene said: 'It was mental torture for me seeing all my friends going shopping and wearing gorgeous clothes they'd bought.

After embarking on a rigorous diet and exercise regime, she has lost almost half her body weight and is now able to buy the 'girlie' clothes that she has always loved

'I was stuck in the sports shops and I never dreamed in a million years I'd ever be able to shop in all the shops they did.

'Now I've lost the weight it's opened up a whole new world for me - I keep bursting into tears of joy in changing rooms.

'The shop assistants must think I'm nuts but I'm just so happy I can wear the clothes I'd always wanted to.'

Charlene, who used to live in men's jogging bottoms, now weighs ten stone and admits she often bursts in to tears of joy in clothes shop changing rooms

Charlene said: 'Now I've lost the weight it's opened up a whole new world for me.'

Charlene started to gain weight after giving birth to her daughter, Jacey, when she was 18.

As a busy new mother, with little time to cook herself healthy meals, the pounds started to pile on - and after having her second child, Tylee, in 2007, her waistline kept expanding.

By the time she gave birth to baby Shayla, now two, she was struggling to fit in a size 24.

Charlene said: 'I am a busy mum, and for 15 years, watching what I was eating was the last thing on my mind.

'I was always running around all over the place, and I was so busy all day I'd rarely eat breakfast or lunch - and just pick bits of the children's dinner.

'But once I'd got them to bed at night I'd just head straight to the kitchen cupboard and fill my pockets with biscuits - then collapse onto the sofa and sit and eat for hours without thinking.

'I knew I was really overweight but I was in denial about it.

'I started avoiding going out, I even refused to go to family functions, because I didn't have anything to wear, and I didn't want people to see me the way I looked.

'When I walked my daughter to school, she automatically walked a few steps ahead of me - I knew deep down that she was embarrassed, and I knew I had to do something for her sake.'

Charlene started to gain weight after giving birth to her daughter, Jacey, when she was 18. By the time she gave birth to baby Shayla, now two, she was struggling to fit in a size 24

After Googling weight loss plans, Charlene signed up to the Cambridge Weight Plan in April and soon started losing weight.

Charlene cut down to eating just one small meal a day, as well as regular soups and shakes - and gradually built up to eating three sensible meals a day.

And after taking up zumba classes, she has shed an amazing six dress sizes - now other mothers at the school gates don't recognise her.

Charlene said: 'I've always been a girlie girl, but my weight used to stop me being the bubbly, confident person I really am.

'I wanted to buy bright dresses and skirts, but there was no way I'd fit in them. If I ever went shopping with friends, I'd be completely ignored by shop assistants.

Charlene cut down to eating just one small meal a day and then gradually built up to eating three sensible meals

Charlene cut down to eating just one small meal a day and then gradually built up to eating three sensible meals, regular Zumba classes also helped shift the weight

'Clothes shopping is a completely new experience for me. The first time I tried to buy a pair of jeans, I had to call my friend and ask her what the numbers inside were - I had no idea how to shop if something wasn't in a sports shop.

'Now, I go to the shops and I'm like a kid in a sweet shop. I wear the brightest clothes I can.

'I've become a bit of a fat crusader - I see bigger girls who are unhappy, and I just want to tell them I know how it feels, and that it is possible to change.

'If I can do it, anyone can.

'My daughter is so proud of me, and it's such a relief knowing that no-one gives her a hard time because of my big bum anymore.'