Sara May Bevan as she was... and how she now looks

This young woman was spurred on to lose 4st in less than a year after someone made an offensive comment about her weight.

Sara May Bevan, who lives in Cardiff, has undergone a beautiful transformation after she said she was told she would be really pretty if she'd lose some weight.

But, far from being offended by the remark, Sara said she has even thanked the person who made it for spurring her on to make some changes in her life.

Sara, 23, admits she hadn’t learned to cook properly before she left home to go to university.

So when she left home, she was living off takeaways and fast food.

Sara, who has been living in Cardiff for around five years after moving from Caldicot, said: “I didn’t know how to cook so I was just eating rubbish and takeaways.

“I gained quite a lot of weight – but I didn’t know that I’d gained any.”

After leaving university three years ago, she said she was surprised when a passing comment was made to her about her weight.

“One day there was a comment and they basically changed my mindset, changed my life.”

Sara May Bevan at her heaviest

Sara, who now works in sales, decided to join Slimming World last October after being on the receiving end of the remark.

She attended a weekly class in Pontprennau Church every Monday to spur her on to make some changes to her diet and lifestyle.

“I went through quite a rough patch. I used to comfort eat”, she admitted. “It would be a continuous circle.”

On her first week at Slimming World, Sara was nervous to get involved but soon realised that everyone else was in the same boat.

“I was really nervous going in. The first week was quite daunting but it was so easy.

“I used to have a food diary because that’s what really helped me out.”

Sara admits she used to comfort eat

Sara soon swapped her couple of takeaways a week for homemade curries, stir-fries and chilli after she got stuck into learning how to cook and which recipes worked for her.

“I can cook quite a lot of stuff now just by learning through the Slimming World recipes.

“If we go out for a meal, there’s always healthy options to choose. It’s quite easy, to be honest.

“You can go out for a nice steak and jacket potato.”

The young woman who shied away from sport during her school years has even become a fan of walking, having climbed Pen y Fan just a couple of weeks after joining her slimming club and completing a climb of Snowdon over the summer.

“I always hated sports in school. I would never have dreamt of doing that before, never in my life”, she added.

How Sara looks now

Sara lost a total of four stone – three-and-a-half with Slimming World and half a stone before she joined in October.

She said: “It’s made me a lot more confident. It’s just a really motivating environment.

“There’s no shame, no one’s judging you. Everyone’s in the same boat.”

At her heaviest, Sara was 15 and a half stone and has now dropped to 11 and a half stone.

She said it’s changed her life, she has bags more confidence and she’s even thanked the person who made the initial comment in the first place.

Sara said: “I know the person and I’ve thanked her for making the comment.”