Inspiring Erin has fought cancer and lost three stone

Erin Green is gearing up to start her new role as a consultant for Slimming World this week.

Mother-of-two Erin, 36, weighed 13st 2lbs when she joined her local Slimming World group in January, 2014, saying that she felt ‘a bit fat and frumpy’.

She said: ‘My weight had crept up on me more than I had thought and I didn’t like the way I looked in photos.

‘It started really well. My new regime fitted in with the family and I didn’t have to cook anything different. I was feeling a bit more energetic.’

But then her husband and ‘lifesaver’ Daniel found a lump after the first few weeks.

Erin was diagnosed with stage 1 grade 3 invasive breast cancer. But the former childcare worker was, in her own words, ‘not one to be beaten’.

She said: ‘I was devastated. You know you have a gut feeling that it’s not going to be good news when you’re the last one in the waiting room at the end of the day before you get the verdict.

‘I thought ‘‘it can only go one way or the other’’, so I chose the other.’

A determined Erin, from Denmead, underwent surgery in May, 2014, but she was given doctor’s orders to put her weight loss on hold during a gruelling six months of chemotherapy.

‘It’s a safe plan to follow, but when you’re having chemotherapy you have some days where can’t eat or you just don’t want to eat’, Erin said.

‘It does feel like a bit of a blur, but the kids kept me busy and kept me as normal as I could ever be!’

Following an additional four weeks of radiotherapy, there was no sign of cancer by February, 2015.

Erin said: ‘My fight with cancer completely changed me. I’m so much more positive and ready to take chances and risks.

‘None of us know long we are here and people keep complaining about being old, but growing old is a privilege.’

Erin had gained several pounds by the end of her cancer battle. But although doctors said that she would struggle to lose weight while prescribed the drug tamoxifen, she was willing to give it a go.

Erin said: ‘I’m one of those people who if you tell me I can’t do something, I’ll try to do it anyway. I was making slower progress than before, but the weight came off gradually and I was happy with that.’

Now weighing 10st, Erin is ‘nervous but mostly excited’ to be leading her own Slimming World group, which opens tomorrow at Waterlooville Community Centre at 9.30am.

She explained: ‘Becoming a consultant had played on my mind for a while and one day my husband saw how passionate I was about it and told me that I needed to do it. I just want to let people know that you can do it no matter what life throws at you.’

If I can inspire just one person then I’ll be happy.