Bridie is Antrim’s lean, mean slimming machine

Bridie is Antrim's lean, mean slimming machine

Bridie Coulter weighed 24 stone and seven pounds in January 2006 when she wore a size 34.

Now, she slips her 10 stone two pound frame into a size eight after four years' exercise and dieting.

Her doctor had warned her that she would be dead within a year - her obesity also causing her difficulty walking and breathing.

She found a local Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness class, run by Elanor Harris, and along with her best friend went along to Greystone Primary School to give it a try.

But Bridie stayed. And four years and two local 'Slimmer of the Year' awards later, Bridie is a shadow of her former self after religiously attending the weekly hour and a half sessions.

Bridie said that when she first started her classes she worked in a Chinese takeaway, out of which she would eat daily. When she started the classes she got rid of her chip pan and frying pan, and started to grill everything instead.