Mum Sarah Hackston has more than the usual motherly glow of pride when she looks at her two young children, writes DAVID HORNE.

For Holly, aged three, and Ben, 18 months, are exactly the combined weight that she has lost in the past 30 weeks.

If she picks them both up for a hug she realises what a fatty she was back in April.

"I've lost 66lb and I'm a new woman," says 29-year-old Sarah, of Tower Hill, Witney. "It's a funny feeling picking up your children and knowing you once had all that extra weight to carry around by yourself."

At one stage Sarah used to tip the bathroom scales at a shuddering 17st 4lb. She says it's all down to what she now eats. Yesterday's menu was:

*Breakfast - two slices wholemeal toast, two boiled eggs, light yoghurt, grapefruit, coffee

*Lunch - Baked spud with 1oz grated Cheddar and home-made coleslaw, banana, light yoghurt.

*Dinner - Pasta with home-made tomato sauce, fruit and non-alcoholic drink.

Sarah's weight loss earned her the slimmer of the year award at the Slimming World sessions run by Bev Warner at Witney's Ceewood Hall.

And now she plans to pass the message on by running her own class, starting in November, on Monday evenings at the town's Congregational Church, Welch Way.

"I find it amazing that I can eat so much food and not have to count calories, fat grammes or points each time I eat.

"And the best thing is that I can eat normal food, not rabbit food, it's great," she said.

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