Successful slimmer competes for title

Succesful slimmer Frances Foote as she is now. At one point Miss Foote topped the scales at nearly 100kg, now she is 69.3kg. Picture / Amos Chapple

Frances Foote used to sit outside the changing room while her size-10 friend tried on clothes, knowing there was nothing in the store that would fit her.

Tipping the scales at nearly 100kg, the 1.71m-tall woman had to wear cycle pants under the dress she wore to her brother's wedding to prevent her legs chaffing.

It was only when she realised she was setting her children up for the same problems that the Hamilton woman, who found size 24 "a bit snug", decided it was time for change.

The 36-year-old, whose only exercise used to be walking from the couch to the fridge, lost 30.2kg in 40 weeks and will now compete for the New Zealand Weight Watchers Slimmer of the Year title against South Island winner Rochelle Croucher in Sydney next month.

Gone are the daily takeaways for lunch and the lollies in her desk drawer. Dinner portions have also been seriously cut back - "meat would have taken up half the plate and vegetables were more like a garnish".

Exercise, including walking and going to the gym, is a regular part of her week and those clothes she once couldn't get into are doing some serious damage to her credit card.

Ms Foote, an account underwriter for an insurance company, said now that she had reached her goal weight, the aching shoulders and hips from the extra weight she once carried had stopped.

Competition against Rochelle Croucher will be tough. The Dunedin woman, who weighed 117.5kg, has dropped 46.7kg.

The 34-year-old administration manager said her whole family were overweight.

The national winner gets a trip to America to meet the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, the face of Weight Watchers.