Express & Star

Singing for joy! Chocoholic Kay loses 14-and-a-half stone

“I tell people I had Noah’s Arc syndrome. I was a chocoholic and the chocolate bars went in two by two.”

Published
Then and now - Kay Lamb used to weigh over 25 stone

Kay Lamb, from Wolverhampton, saw her weight spiral to over 25 stone because of her unhealthy lifestyle.

But now the barbershop quartet member is singing for joy after losing an amazing 14-and-a-half stone.

It was five years ago when the mother-of-two was refused a request for gastric surgery with her doctor referring her to Weight Watchers for 12 weeks instead.

At the time, Kay, of Park Road East, West Park, was taking medication for diabetes and her blood pressure and cholesterol was unhealthily high.

Kay said: “I had tried to lose weight before but had always hit a plateau and then put the weight back on again. I thought the referral would never work. I went away furious.

She added: “At the end of the 12 weeks she just said keep going.” That she did and the weight kept falling off.

Stress

A demanding career in computer programming meant Kay worked long hours and her lifestyle suffered as a result.

She said: “There was l a lot of stress, which isn’t conducive to losing weight.

“I ate too many takeaways for convenience and too many cakes and chocolate. It was too easy to do that.

“I have swapped my Big Macs for grilled chicken salads.”

As the daughter of a baker, temptation for sweet treats was never far away either.

Kay, aged 57, has been singing since childhood but at dress size 32, she struggled to find costumes for her shows.

Ready

Now a size 12 and exercising regularly, she has a new lease of life and no longer worries about finding clothes that fit.

“Last year I felt ready to run a 5K. It was great but I wasn’t the slowest,” Kay said.

“They used to send out search parties for me in cross country in school.”

She added: “I gave my grandson a shock the first time I caught up with him.”

Kay, who is married to Ian, now has a new career to accompany her lifestyle transformation, helping others across the Black Country achieve their weight-loss goals as a Weight Watchers coach.

She said: “It’s the most rewarding job I have ever done in my life. I can never thank my coaches enough enough.”