'I thought I was having heart attack - now I've lost 7st and save £300 a month'

'I thought I was having heart attack - now I've lost 7st and save £300 a month'Lydia Collins, 40, from Solihull was so out of breath on a family holiday she feared for her healthCommentsNewsSteven Smith Content Editor09:40, 14 Apr 2026View 5 ImagesLydia Collins lost 7st(Image: Lydia Collins/Slimming World)A mum has revealed how she shed 7st and now saves £300 each month in the process. Lydia Collins, 40, lost the weight with Slimming World after fearing she was suffering a heart attack while on holiday and the busy mum credits healthy recipe boxes as the key to maintaining her progress while managing two jobs.‌She explained she'd been dissatisfied with her weight for as long as she could recall, but it wasn't until a family break in Wales that she decided action was needed: "My weight was always something that played on my mind, however as I got older it started to spiral. I was going out with my friends more and found myself relying on takeaways and convenience foods even more."‌Despite Lydia, from Solihull, attempting various diets previously, none felt sustainable.‌She said: "I'd tried every diet going – from calorie counting to fasting to soup diets. They all felt so restrictive, though, and I struggled to stick to any of them for more than a couple of days."It wasn't until the holiday in Wales in 2017 when reality kicked in. After a day at the beach, we were walking back to our holiday home and I found myself so out of breath that I thought I was going to have a heart attack.View 5 ImagesLydia before she lost weight(Image: Lydia Collins/Slimming World)‌"I insisted that everyone carried on without me and I ended up crawling on the grass for the final stretch. What should have been a short walk took me 45 minutes. I was so embarrassed and worried about my health that I knew I needed to do something." After chatting to a friend who had recently joined Slimming World and was already noticing results,...