Losing weight is one of the hardest things for any woman to do. It demands a huge amount of willpower and in some cases a complete change of lifestyle. One concerted effort is enough for most people. But over the past six years Marjorie Kaye from Bradford has done the impossible and lost almost half her total body weight - twice. And this time, says the 56-year-old grandmother, the pounds have gone for good

IT WAS a moment that Marjorie Kaye would like to forget. Settling down in the plane to jet off on a sunshine holiday, she could not fasten her seat belt.

"I couldn't even get the two ends to touch," she recalls, "It was so embarrassing - I didn't know what to do and had to ask for an extra piece of belt to stretch across my stomach."

That was not the end of Marjorie's problems on the flight to Florida. "I was so big I couldn't get the table down properly and my food and drink was going all over. It really was awful."

Anyone who witnessed the scene would have found it hard to believe that, just three years previously, the 56-year-old grandmother had won a prestigious award for slimming.

She had done what even the most determined slimmers would find impossible - she had lost almost half her body weight. After tipping the scales at just under 20st, Marjorie had shed 9st 3lbs. She had ditched her size 28 clothes, and could effortlessly pull on size 14 slacks and tops.

Yet here she was, once more a heavyweight at more than 18st. It was hard for her to bear. And it made her determined to shed those excess pounds - this time for good.

As a child, Marjorie was never fat. And when she married her sweetheart David, she weighed only nine stones. But all that changed when the couple started a family. In common with most women, Marjorie, of West Bowling, found it difficult to lose weight after giving birth. Her second pregnancy ended in a miscarriage and, feeling low, she found herself eating more and more. She recalls: "I think that could have been the start of it - I just wasn't bothered about myself. I would eat for comfort."

She went on to have two more children, and found she had less and less time to devote to herself.

She says: "I could not resist snacking and I was too tired to take much exercise. I had given up smoking as well, and food was a substitute. My weight shot up, but I didn't really register what was happening until it was too late."

She ballooned to almost 20st. She says: "I was shocked when I saw myself, it was like looking at another woman. I was as if I could not fully accept it was me, but I knew it was."

Despite his wife doubling in size, David did not say anything - and Marjorie loves him for that. "He never judged me, he's always been the same towards me, no matter what my size."

But she was fed-up, and agreed to accompany a friend to a slimming club. Says Marjorie: "What they taught me wasn't so much about diet, more about healthy eating. It wasn't what I expected and I decided to put my mind to it."

In just 12 months she lost 9st 4lbs. She says: "I ate sensibly, and made sure I walked rather than using the car."

The impact her new slim frame had upon other people was amazing. "They would walk past me in the street, and I'd say 'Don't you know me?' Then they'd say: 'Oh, Marjorie, it's you, I can't believe it.' And people were ringing me up to say how well I looked."

She lost so much weight she was a regional finalist with Slimmer Clubs UK. She added: "I went from a size 28 in clothes to a size 14. I felt a lot more healthy, and it was fantastic being able to buy skirts and trousers with waistbands.

But personal traumas left their mark and Marjorie soon let things slide. "It is a lot easier to put weight back on than take it off. I had

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