A FAMILY have ditched a diet of takeaways and lost a combined total of 17 stone by turning to healthy eating.

Karen Mathison, along with her husband, Ian, son Andrew and his girlfriend Caisha Tyler from Blackburn, turned their lives around with the new eating habits.

Mrs Mathison, 49, a former project manager at BAE Systems, lost almost six stone after weighing 22-stone in March.

Her husband, 57, who runs his own project management business, lost six stone and now weighs 13-and-a-half stone.

His son, 19, and Miss Tyler, 20, who attend Swansea University, lost five stone and seven pounds between them.

The family’s lost weight is the equivalent of 108 bags of sugar.

The older couple attended a Weight Watchers group in Hoddlesden to help them shed the pounds.

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Mrs Mathison a photography student, said the weight loss has given her more energy.

She said: “We changed what we ate, we cut down on sugar, we barely use butter anymore.

“The family ate a lot of takeaways and ate out a lot, but now we only do it as a treat.

“We now only use skimmed milk, and eat more wholemeal, cleaner foods.

“We don’t feel the aches and pains we used to get anymore, it’s amazing.

“I used to get problems with my ankles, but I don’t suffer with them now.

“It’s about eating foods in moderation, we’ve not cut out on bad food completely, it’s just eaten less often.”

Mrs Mathison now studies photography at the University Centre in Blackburn College and runs a photography business with her husband.

Mrs Mathison said they used a points system at the Weight Watchers group to keep track of her progress. She said: “My husband was fairly slim but he had to have a quadruple heart bypass a few years ago and as a consequence he started putting on weight.

“We looked back on our wedding video and we realised we had put pounds on, so we decided to do something about it.

“The group sessions we went to taught us about portion control and how to make foods healthier.

“It was great to think we lost all the weight as a family and we did it together.

“We are all a lot healthier and a lot happier from it.

“I’ve still got a bit more to lose but I know I will get to it because of the progress I’ve made so far.

“I’d like to thank Ann Ward, our coach, for helping us lose the weight.” she was an inspiration to us.