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Tuesday 3 April 2012

An Inspirational Woman

Over the past 20 years, Delyth Griffiths has struggled with her weight.


Giving birth to two children and looking after them was taking its toll on her and eating healthy was the last thing on her mind.


Delyth was a size 8 all through her teenage years and through her twenties.


body measurements
Courtesy of The Daily Mail
She ran for Wales as a teenager at professional level. But the amount of training she had to put in was unbelievable.


“I was constantly training in my teenage years. Before I went to school, in my lunch breaks, and after school, I was even running in my sleep I was training so much.”


Along with school and training, she had no time to have her own life. She became fed up of not being able to go out with her friends and soon gave it up.


After she left school and college, she took a job as a sales administrator in Towy Ford, Carmarthen. She managed to maintain her figure without doing exercise. 


“I was very happy with my body. I didn’t have to exercise to maintain my shape. I could eat whatever I wanted and not put on weight which is probably every girl's dream.”


As the years went by, Delyth met a man on a night out with her friends. They fell in love and they were soon married. In 1991, she gave birth to a baby girl and the following year of 1992 brought the couple a baby boy. This was despite doctors saying that the couple couldn’t have children.


This was when Delyth started believing she had problems with her weight.


“I don’t know where the weight came from. I wasn’t doing anything differently to what I did before having children. I know I wasn't running but I hadn't done for years before having children. Having two children to look after and putting weight on really got me down.”


When the children started to go to school Delyth returned to work only to here that the place where she worked was closing down.


“This was all I needed. I had a family to support and was faced with unemployment. Stress definitely took over.”


This incident saw her go up to a size 16 in clothes.


“Size 16 today is the UK average but when you are a size 16 yourself you realise how big you are. Seeing images in magazines of toned to perfection celebs didn't help much either. I wasn’t happy at all and nothing I did would shift the weight.”


Luckily, a similar job came up in Renault Gravells in Kidwelly and Delyth had a secure job.


“After securing a new job I knew the only thing I wanted was to lose weight. Going on holiday with your family should be a happy experience but all I could think about was how I was going to cover up. I remember seeing other women similar to my age in bikinis and thinking ‘why can’t I be like that?’ I tried every diet in the celebrity magazines but nothing seemed to work.”


Delyth decided to join her local Weight Watchers and by counting her calories and having weekly meetings with her group she lost 3 stone and was fitting into size 12 clothes.


Me and my mother
Delyth and Me in 2010
“I was so happy when I reached my goal. I felt comfortable in my own skin. I felt like I had gotten my confidence back. But I have to admit, counting calories was hard.”


“Looking back at how much I have changed over the years, it’s incredible.”


Delyth has now quit Weight Watchers and despite going up a dress size to a 14, she is happy.


She is also struggling with the illnesses of her parents. Her mother is suffering from cancer and stage one of dementia and her father is suffering from the final stages of dementia. Although her parents are having 24 hour care in a care home it is still taking its toll on her.


"Going back and forth to the care home is wearing me out. Seeing them deteriorate so quickly is upsetting but I know there is nothing I can do. It's a really upsetting situation."


Delyth is constantly worn out and the situation is making her skip meals as she doesn't feel hungry. 


Despite these issues Delyth has a strong message for every woman out there.


“I do get my down days where I feel frumpy and fat but I have learnt to embrace my curves. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. You can be as beautiful as anything but if you don’t have the personality to go with it, it doesn’t mean a thing.”


Images we are bombarded with
“My main message is that no one is perfect. No one has the perfect body. We will always be bombarded with celebrity magazines filled with toned and tanned bodies but you just have to look at them and think ’no one really looks like that’ because they don’t. You just have to love your good bits and learn to embrace the bad bits. As long as you’re happy that’s all that matters.”





“I hope many women will be inspired by my story. Society is so image obsessed today it's crazy. I may not have the body that is seen in the magazines but I am happy in my own skin. I have learnt to love my body and learnt to embrace my curves. This is what every woman should do.”


And following this story, I am proud to say that this woman is my mother. She has taught me to love myself for who I am and not worry what other people think. And as cheesy as it sounds, my mother is my inspiration and hero.


To learn more about Weight Watchers click here.


What’s your opinion on Delyth’s story? Share your issues here too.

2 comments:

  1. That mag image is laughable as uf u cud look that way so rediculous! Xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know its crazy, but it's surprising how many people are effected by the images x

    ReplyDelete

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