FOR 13 years, Lorraine Hammond thought the reason she could not lose weight was down to her underactive thyroid.

Although the condition contributed to her being overweight, she has since gone on to prove she can drop the pounds.

Just a few tweaks to her diet and exercise have seen Lorraine lose 19 pounds in ten weeks.

Lorraine says: “I had convinced myself that I couldn’t lose weight, because of the underactive thyroid I was diagnosed with 13 years ago.

“I had been going to the gym for a couple of years, but I hadn’t lost any weight. I just accepted it was because of the condition.”

Then Lorraine embarked on Southend-based Energie Fitness’s ten-week Weigh to Go programme.

She dropped from a size 16-18 to a size 12 in that time and lost three-and-a-half inches from her waist.

Lorraine’s diet and exercise regime before was not unhealthy, but there was room for improvement.

She says: “I used to eat a lot of bread, including a piece of toast and jam for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and then a home-cooked dinner. “I went to the gym regularly, but I did not mix it up with different things like core work.”

Instructor Annie Mullis made a few small tweaks to Lorraine’s diet and exercise, and the weight started to come off.

Lorraine says: “I was told to replace toast with porridge and prunes for breakfast.

“For lunch, I’ll have a salad with corn thins, and then dinner is lean meat and vegetables.

“I also snack on bananas and I have hummus and carrot sticks as an alternative.

“Changes to my workout included one-to-one sessions with Annie using the Pilates ball and the vibrating plate. Annie said that I had a weak core and we worked on ways to strengthen it.”

Lorraine is feeling good about her weight loss and the permanent changes to her routine.

She says: “I went to Florida on holiday recently and I felt good in a swimming costume for the first time in years.

“I can’t use having an underactive thyroid as an excuse any more for being overweight.

“It does make losing weight harder, but now I know how to maintain a healthy weight in a manageable way.”

Visit effw.co.uk/southend or call 01702 213131 for further details on Energie Fitness.