A hotel and restaurant manager says her life has been totally transformed after losing five stone during the lockdown.

Rebecca Adams, 36, has dropped from a size 22 to a 12/14 after committing wholeheartedly to the process of losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: The whole family has benefitted from Rebecca Adams' weight loss which has seen her grow in confidence and begin to plan for things like holidays abroad which she would never before have considered.The whole family has benefitted from Rebecca Adams' weight loss which has seen her grow in confidence and begin to plan for things like holidays abroad which she would never before have considered. (Image: Rebecca Adams)

The mum-of-two, from Staithe Road, Martham, was a self-confessed recluse before making the changes, rarely leaving the house and never meeting up with friends, so severe was her anxiety.

She said she had always been big and constantly thought about food but it wasn't until she saw herself in a promotional video and thought "Is that me?" that she decided to take action.

"I had won an award for a business that I had been involved in and was approached by a company to do a video," she said.

"He then sent me the edited images.

"I was sat on the sofa and I put my hand in front of the laptop.

"I had to ask my husband if that was me. I was shocked and disgusted, I did not know I was as big as that, neither of us did."

Weighing in at nearly 19 stone she could barely make it up a flight of stairs without her fitness tracker alarm sounding, and activities like taking her sons to the park or swimming or going abroad were out of the question.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Rebecca Adams said she had no confidence at all after suffering post-partum psychosis following the birth of her second son. However, now she has lost five stone with Slimming World she says all her anxiety has fallen away and she has been 'totally transformed.'Rebecca Adams said she had no confidence at all after suffering post-partum psychosis following the birth of her second son. However, now she has lost five stone with Slimming World she says all her anxiety has fallen away and she has been 'totally transformed.' (Image: Rebecca Adams)

Having summoned the courage to visit her Slimming World group in Martham she was terrified of sitting in a plastic chair in case it broke.

As it was she lost 8.5lbs in the first week, then the pandemic hit - but instead of buckling she resolved to carry on.

As the weight fell off her confidence grew, and she stunned everyone by going for a new job as the hotel and restaurant manager at the King's Arms in Fleggburgh which she was handed on the spot in July.

Adding to her problems was post partum psychosis she developed after having her second son who nearly died after a traumatic birth.

And crippling anxiety that prevented her from leaving the house, vanished virtually over night once she had lost three or four stone.

By September last year she had lost five stone and become "a completely different person."

"I have lost the equivalent of my eldest son who is ten," she said.

"I cannot even put into words the difference it has made.

"I was socially inept. I suffered horrendously with anxiety.

"Now I have a new job which I love and no-one would ever know I had all these issues."

Workouts and family bike rides are now the norm, where she would have been slumped on the sofa with a takeaway.

And in September to celebrate the difference her healthy choices have made for the whole family she and husband Daniel plan to renew their wedding vows with sons Archie, aged 10 and eight-year-old Albie.

"I used to think I couldn't do it, " she said, "And I would become defensive if anyone said anything about losing weight.

"But it got to the point where I wanted to do it and I needed to do it.

"You have to be fully committed and throw yourself into it wholeheartedly."

She added that posting on her Slimming World Instagram account had been helpful, sharing her journey with others and keeping her motivated.

Losing the weight during three lockdowns had been tough, she added, but on the positive side it gave her the opportunity to make time for herself, something many mums neglected to do.