Manley slimmer, 61, cures sleep apnoea with 5st, 12lb weight loss

Mary Siddall, a retired school cook, had to wear a CPAP machine when she slept to stop her airways from closing until she lost five stone, 12 pounds.

The 61-year-old, whose weaknesses are cheese and chocolate, also stopped getting migraines, which caused temporary sight loss, and has halved the amount of blood pressure medication she takes.

At her peak in March 2022, Mary weighed 23 stone, five and a half pounds, but now weighs just 17 stone, seven pounds.

“I’m just one-and-a-half pounds away from my six stone target,” the gran-of-four said.

“But my ultimate goal is 10 stone.”

Mary lost exactly five stone in one year, then plateaued for about nine months, before ‘getting her head back in the game’ last December.

Mary lost the most weight at her Delamere Slimming World group in 2023 (Image: Mary Siddall)

She says her Slimming World group, which meets at Delamere Community Centre on Thursday mornings, has been a big part of her success.

Asked how she feels about her health news, she said: “It’s fantastic.

“I’ve had sleep apnoea for six years, but the hospital consultant just wrote to my GP saying due to my massive weight loss, I don’t need my CPAP machine anymore.

“I also used to get migraines virtually every day, with sight loss, which was really difficult.

"If I had one when I was at my mum’s, who I care for, I couldn’t drive home.

“The doctor has also knocked my blood pressure tablets down from four to two a day.

Mary's delight she can buy more clothes now, as she doesn't have to go to outsize shops (Image: Mary Siddall)

“I’ve got so much more confidence.

“I buy loads more clothes now than I used to, because I don’t have to go to the bigger shops.

“I also couldn’t get down to my own back garden as there are 20 steps, but all that’s changed.  

“I’ve just put myself down for the Slimming World Race for Life at Delamere, which is a 10k walk.

“I’ll be doing practice walks with one of the other Slimming World ladies in the forest most days.

“Foodwise, the Slimming World diet is great because you can have anything, so long as you count it. 

“We used to have cheese and crackers most nights, which my husband Alistair still does, but I have cheese on a slice of apple.

“I cut it so it looks like a cracker.

“I used to make things like lasagne with a readymade sauce mix, but now I do it from scratch with proper cooking tomatoes.

“I eat a lot of eggs in the form of omelettes, eggs on toast, or with salmon. Alistair keeps hens, so we have plenty.

Mary and her husband, Alistair Siddall (Image: Mary Siddall)

“There nothing I miss because I’m allowed anything, but where I’d used to buy a big bar of chocolate and eat it, I’ll just buy a Freddo now."

Mary says slimmers who set themselves goals by certain times run the risk of demotivating themselves.

She added: “In the past, I’ve put timescales on my weight loss, and I’ve not reached it. 

"I’ve felt a failure, and put it all back on again.

“I didn’t put any weight on over Christmas and New Year. In the past, I’ve been known to put 10 pounds on.

“I actually lost two pounds.”