A woman has lost more than five and a half stone in a year after joining a Slimming World group in Builth Wells, and says she is now preparing for knee replacement surgery.

Lesda Davies achieved her 5½ Stone Award after joining Anna James’ 5:30pm group last year and is continuing her weight-loss journey with further goals ahead.

Lesda has struggled with her weight most of her adult life. Around 20 years ago, while living overseas, she attended a residential eating disorder centre. After returning to the UK in 2015, she developed health problems including lymphoedema in both legs and osteoarthritis in both knees.

She first joined Slimming World at that time, but said her progress over the years was inconsistent.

“I did quite well for a while, and then something would come along and knock me off the rails, and I’d find myself back at square one again,” she said.

She said lockdown was particularly difficult, as she missed group support and regained much of the weight she had lost.

In 2023, Lesda was placed on a waiting list for double knee replacement surgery, on the condition she lost seven stone before reaching the top of the list. But life events made that target difficult to focus on.

“Those two years brought a few major upheavals, including the death of my lovely dad, and with less than six months to go in June last year, I was desperately unhappy to have lost only 11lbs,” she said.

That was when she made two changes - moving to Anna James’ Slimming World group in Builth Wells and starting the weight-loss medication Mounjaro through her local pharmacy.

A weekly injection of Mounjaro, she said, helped make it easier to stick to the Slimming World plan.

“It helps to curb my appetite so that nowadays I eat much smaller meals than before and don’t feel the need to snack between meals,” said Lesda.

“I still follow Slimming World guidelines - I make sure I eat healthily so that when I eventually come off Mounjaro, I’ll still be eating food that I know is good for me.”

She said being open about using medication with the group helped remove pressure.

“Anna and I agreed that I would tell everyone right from the start,” she said.

“I didn’t want anyone congratulating me on big weight losses and then feeling cheated when they found out it wasn’t all willpower and counting syns (or swips).

“They couldn’t be more supportive. When I told everyone that I’d been accepted for surgery with only five stone lost instead of the original seven requested, the genuine outpouring of pleasure from everyone was overwhelming and very moving.”

Lesda is now awaiting a surgery date. She says she still has more to lose, but is determined to continue.

Slimming World has recently introduced additional support for members using GLP-1 weight-loss medications.

Anna James runs Slimming World groups at The Strand Hall, Builth Wells, on Thursdays at 5:30pm and 7pm and can be contacted at 07929 483 784.