Derbyshire mum celebrates losing 5st by running London Marathon

Brodie Marks has shed a whopping 5st 4.5lbs by healthy eating and exercise since she joined Slimming World in December 2019.

At her heaviest, the mum of two weighed in at around 15 stone and was incapable of doing a short sprint, let alone a marathon.

Now Brodie will be part of a 12-strong team from Slimming World pounding the streets of London on Sunday in their quest to run up funds for Cancer Research.

It’s the second time Brodie, 35, who lives in Honeysuckle Drive, South Normanton, will tackle the epic run. She said: “It’s ten years since I last did the marathon so I thought it would be the carrot at the end of my journey. I thought my time had been and gone for a marathon. I had a run-out with my friend after having my second son in October 2019 and I couldn’t even get to the lamp-post.”

Brodie, who is married to David, admitted that she struggled with her weight throughout her life. She said: “When I had my first son, Harrison, eight years ago I wanted to lose the weight quickly so I tended to crash diet but then put the weight back on again. I fell pregnant after he was born but unfortunately miscarried. After that, it took a while to get pregnant and I reverted to food instead. Then we got some really good news that I was pregnant with Oscar but at that point, I’d gone up to about 15 stone.

"I'd gone to my antenatal and they classed me as obese. I was mortified and disappointed. It was an eye-opener. I knew that I'd put on weight but I'd shy away from the scales because I didn't want to admit what I'd put on.

"A lot of people said that if you’re breast-feeding the weight falls off you. After Oscar was born I carried on eating badly thinking I’ll lose it anyway and I’ll have to eat more. It just wasn’t coming off and I was feeling more unwell – I didn’t feel fit enough to want to do anything.

Encouraged by her mum, June Palmer, she joined the Slimming World group at Selston Parish Hall in January 2020 but two months later the country went into lockdown. Brodie said: “I was really worried if the group didn’t carry on I’d lose what I had already achieved so I carried on virtually where the support kept me going.”

Brodie works at Slimming World headquarters as a Field Support Team Manager and had seen the success that came out of competition events. She said: “I’d always felt I could do lose the weight alone. The group I joined made the difference, I had people helping me, giving me ideas, supporting me and being made accountable because I was going to weigh every week.”

Her incredible weight loss has given Brodie a renewed zest for life. She said: “I feel amazing; confident enough to be able to go out and not be judged. Before, I’d always be the person who would sit at the back of the room and not want to share much. I felt insecure and worried about what people might think of me.”

At her heaviest, Brodie was a dress size 18. She said: “I’d try to buy smaller clothes in denial, they showed every lump and bump.” Now she can fit into dresses of sizes 8 and 10 and is confident that whatever she buys will look good.

Slimming World has also given her a love of cooking. Brodie said: “I’d never cooked very well and shied away from cooking. I was eating easy food - a lot of fast food, pizzas, chips, sandwiches and sausage rolls, anything that would fill me up. I've learned how to cook and it's simpler to cook healthy meals than I thought it would be. I've done a lot of swaps, full-fat meat for five percent fat, and you can make pizza topped chicken using chicken breast instead of the crust. I’ve also tried different kinds of fruit that I wouldn’t have tried before.”

Sue Rutter, consultant at Slimming World, runs weekly group sessions in Selston, Alfreton and Somercotes. She said: “Brodie is a real inspiration to us all and we are so proud of her. When she first came through the door she wanted to lose weight – however, she had no idea what a huge transformation was about to begin and certainly no idea that she would one day be running the London Marathon, it’s incredible! She is proof that with self-belief, determination and the right kind of support from a group of people who understand what it feels like to struggle with your weight and truly care about your success, anyone’s weight loss and activity dreams can be achieved.”