There was a time when Amanda Stewart “didn’t care” if she never woke up one day after finding herself in the “darkest of places”. Her struggles with alcohol consumption, mental health and ADHD peaked during lockdown in 2020, and led to a time when she could “sink two bottles of wine a night”.
The 46-year-old, from Stanley, County Durham, said: “I found myself in the darkest of places healing from traumas that even some my closest people don’t know about. I was dealing with so much pain and unable to cope with daily life rationally. My confidence and self-esteem were on the floor.”
Amanda, a single mum to a teenage daughter, added: “I found it especially hard to remain positive for us both. I, like a lot of others, ate and drank [during lockdown] in a way that I hadn’t been doing previously and gained a lot of weight after losing a lot just before lockdown…. I had lost my sparkle and dreaded going out with my friends. I didn’t want to leave the house.”
“I had been working so hard on myself, my mental health and ADHD for a few years and I had lots of tools but was never able to put them all together to help me. I felt a total failure. I had been so unkind to my body and felt during lockdown I had undone all of the hard work and the weight loss I had achieved and had crept back on. I felt like I kept failing and couldn’t break the cycle.”
“If I’m being 100% honest, I did not care if I woke up the next day or not – and that’s a dark place to be. Looking back, it terrifies me how low I was.”
Amanda said she tried cutting back her alcohol consumption to weekends only but she found herself “wishing [her] weeks away even further”, adding: “I would live for the weekend so I could lock the door and hide away from the world.”
So in February 2024 she decided to cut alcohol out of her life completely, while also beginning a weight loss journey
Amanda said: “I finally decided it was all or nothing and I decided to challenge myself to a year without alcohol because I so desperately wanted change. I am not going to sugar-coat it, it’s not been easy, and I’ve had my challenges don’t get me wrong.
“We live in a world where alcohol is pushed onto us daily for every occasion and every emotion. This past year has taught me that I am so much stronger and resilient than I used to think.”
As well as successfully completing one year without alcohol, Amanda has also shed a whopping 6.5st with the help and support from her local Slimming World group.
She added: “The decision to lose weight has singlehandedly changed my entire life. Not only can I do and wear things I never dreamed possible, but I am now excited to wake up each morning and face the day and not wish my life away to be home hiding behind closed doors and curtains.
“This feeling I wouldn’t swap for all the money in the world or all the cakes or wine.”
“I am in such a healthier, happier place and weigh 6.5 stones lighter. To add to my success, I am over one year alcohol free and a Slimming World target member too!
“I couldn’t have done this without my amazing consultant and group support and even though I am now at target I will continue to trust myself and know that the knowledge I have about myself can help me maintain a healthy weight forever.”
Amanda is so passionate about the changes she has made to her own life, that she is opening her own Slimming World group at Craghead Village Hall, Stanley on Tuesday, March 25 at 7pm.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/quitting-alcohol-woman-weight-loss-31193139
