THREE Evesham women will be welcoming in the New Year with renewed confidence after losing hundreds of pounds through local weight loss programmes.

Mums Kelly Golder, 35, and Heather Tandy, 52, have gone from ‘frumpy’ to ‘yummy mummy’ after losing more than 10 stone between them, and both were semi-finalists in the 2008 Cambridge Diet Slimmer of the Year competition.

They’ll be joined by Evesham-based nurse Juliette Collins, 34, from Forest Gate, who lost almost half her body weight in just 39 weeks to go from a size 30 down to a size 12.

All three spoke of how their weight problems started when they were back in school, but after proving it really is mind over matter they are ready to start the New Year with a new look they can be proud of.

Kelly said: “After gaining more weight from two pregnancies I was determined to lose it after a depressing Christmas last year.

“I was the largest I had ever been, a size 20 and I was too embarrassed to go out in case I bumped into people I hadn’t seen for a while.

“I would just sob in the changing rooms when I tried on new clothes and I couldn’t go on feeling like that.”

Kelly found her local Cambridge counsellor Daphne Richards and went on to lose five stone in four months.

Her success rubbed off on her friend, Heather, who also tried the Cambridge diet using Kelly as inspiration.

With the support of her doctor she lost five stone in six months, and even completed the 5km Race for Life for Cancer Research in June.

Heather said: “I can hardly believe it; at the beginning of the year I was struggling to walk and on a variety of tablets and now my life is completely different.

“I feel younger now than I did 25 years ago.”

Juliette Collins used a different weight loss system - LighterLife - a combination of counselling together with a low calorie diet which helps people focus on why they eat, not what they eat.

She said: “I found my nurses training was more difficult being big, plus people would judge your ability and intelligence on your size.

“I began to think ‘how can I look after other people If I can’t look after myself?’ “I felt so bad used to make fat jokes before anyone else could, but now I’m confident, proud and love to be the centre of attention.”