Telephonist Dawn Wild, 37, of Pudsey, was devastated after being told she was too overweight to conceive.

Her marriage broke up under the strain, yet she battled on and conceived through Artificial Insemination by Donor. Her beautiful, lively daughter proved the best incentive ever to shed some pounds. For travel consultant Angie, 24, and process analyst Rob Stoney, 26, of Great Horton, their wedding was the spur to losing weight, and Nichola Crompton, 33 of Low Moor, went from a size 24 to a size 12 in under a year.

Dawn's story

It all started when I was in my twenties. I worked in a pizza restaurant and was always snacking. Needless to say I put on a lot of weight. Then I met my husband, Paul, but that didn't stop me eating. I was a size 12 and soon ballooned to a 24. We got married, and I went from bad to worse. I didn't know where to go for help. I knew there were slimming clubs, but didn't have the courage to join. It was quite frightening - I had to put up with all sorts of insults, even from my husband. I'd go to sit on a park bench and kids would shout 'watch it go up at that side now.' I felt like an outcast, but the more insults I got the more down I became and the more I would eat.

We'd been trying for a baby for about six years, but the biggest blow came when a doctor told me I was too fat to get pregnant. Those words cut through me like a knife - it was heartbreaking. But another doctor referred me to St James's Hospital in Leeds where I was told that that was not the case. They discovered I was not ovulating regularly and I began fertility treatment.

Because of all this my marriage was under a huge strain and broke up, but I decided to carry on with the treatment and went on to have Artificial Insemination by Donor. I conceived at my fifth attempt - I was absolutely ecstatic.

I was well throughout my pregnancy, although I obviously got bigger. I was like a beached whale. It was wonderful when Sadie arrived, but once she started toddling I started to worry. I couldn't keep up with her and became exhausted. And I didn't want her to go to school and have kids say: "Your mum's fat." I didn't want her to draw me as a ball - I wanted to be a stick.

I went to Slimming World with my sister. I weighed more than 16 stone. When the diet was explained I thought I'd never stick at it, and in the first week lost only two pounds. But one night I was sitting eating a bag of chips and I thought 'Look, I'm the boss, I'm in control, I can do it.' Two weeks later I'd lost half a stone, and the weight kept falling off. Things started to improve - Sadie and I walked to the shops instead of getting the bus or taking a taxi because I didn't have the strength to walk. We would jump over different coloured paving stones.

Then my boss bet me £20 that I couldn't lose two and a half stone for my holidays - and I won. We went to Skegness and Sadie wanted me to go in all the play areas. I went on the rides and the bouncy castle - I could never have done that before.

It feels fantastic to be able to do all these things with Sadie - she's five now and we go out together and go on picnics in summer. Before it was all 'sorry mummy's tired,' but now I feel I'm fulfilling my duties as a mother. Now I'm 10st 7lb, and a size 12 again. Sadie helps me to diet - she tells me off if I eat chocolates or crisps!

Nichola's story

Nichola Crompton, 33, from Low Moor, lost five stones seven years ago and is now a Weight Watchers leader. She went from a size 24 to a size ten in under a year. She has been married to Wayne, 31, for almost eight years and they have a nine-year-old son Daniel.

Nichola says...

I've always been conscious of my weight and have been overweight since I was a child. I'm only 5ft1in and was always a couple of stone heavier than I should have been but things really came to a head after I had my son.

When I was pregnant I had a craving for full fat milk and drank up to six pints a day and I was eating all the wrong foods. I used the excuse that I couldn't exercise because I had had a Caesarean and had a young baby to look after.

When Daniel was six months old I got a job delivering food to offices and all day I was surrounded by cream buns, pasties, chocolate bars and of course they were too hard to resist.

Wayne said my weight had never bothered him and he never commented on it. It was only once when he caught me in tears that he offered to pay for me to go to Weight Watchers but I just wasn't ready then.

It wasn't an issue for him but I felt embarrassed for him having to be seen with someone like me. I hid myself away and hibernated. I didn't want people to see me and I hardly had any clothes that fit.

I was so lethargic and had no energy. I used to be asleep on the sofa by 7.30 every night.

Now I've lost the weight I'm a lot stronger and I speak my mind. Before I never stated an opinion because I was afraid that people would not listen because I was fat.

The final straw came when I saw a photograph of myself one Christmas with so many rolls of fat. I joined Weight Watchers and the more weight I lost, the more determined I was.

Wayne was very supportive and encouraged me to go to the classes and helped me measure myself to see how much I've lost. He'd never eat something like a cream bun in front of me and if he did he would go out of his way to eat it in another room so I couldn't see it.

It was hard work but I lost the five stones in seven months.

It has really changed my life although I have to remember that I'm the same person as I was then.

Wayne says...

I never thought anything about Nicola's weight and it was a number of things that first attracted me to her. I didn't notice her getting fatter or thinner, she was always the same person to me.

Losing weight has done her a lot of good in herself. She's a lot more confident and assertive. Before I think she was very conscious of her herself and she felt different because she was overweight.

Rob and Angie's story

Rob says...

We were due to get married last September and wanted to lose weight for the wedding. I'd been to Weight Watchers about four years ago and lost some weight, but gradually put it back on.

Angie's mum had bought her a lovely wedding dress but it was miles too small. However, Angie was determined to wear it. And I wanted to look good at our wedding - that was the sole motivation. It was economical to be eating the same things. I stopped going to WW for a while and Angie was a bit jealous that I was eating normal food. She said I wasn't supporting her. I've lost more than one and a half stone. It has benefited us - not just at the wedding. Now we can go for walks without getting breathless and we go circuit training together every week.

Angie says...

Rob started it and I just followed him. No-one thought I'd have the willpower to do it, even Rob doubted my commitment. Our wedding was a big incentive - my mum had bought the wedding dress a year before. It was the only one they had, but when I tried it on mum and the shop fitter were literally pushing the zip up my back. I stuck to the diet - the dress was spurring me on - and dropped from size 18 to 14.

When our wedding day came my dress had to be made even smaller - there was so much spare material. It was a lot easier having Rob around - we encouraged each other.

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