'I lived in baggy clothes. Now I buy dresses': Cork woman happily facing into 2025

Cork mum-of-two Anne Shine’s form of MS doesn’t define her anymore. Instead, the letters mean something completely different to her now: Mighty Superpower!

“I am a new woman now after losing more than three stone in weight,” says Anne.

More power to her!

“I have a new life that’s better than anything I imagined,” adds Anne, a single mother of two grown-up children from Carrigtwohill.

“I am healthier now that I am so much lighter. And I have a new sense of positive body confidence.

“Now I am walking everywhere. I am enjoying going out with my daughter Eva, which I never could before.

“I lived in baggy clothes. Now I buy dresses.”

It’s a whole new world for Anne, who is happily facing into 2025.

She lost her weight with the help of Slimming World in Midleton.

“I have made new friends there, who all supported me through thick and thin; in bad days and in good days,” she said.

Anne reflects on the bad old days, when she was struggling with her weight for a long time, battling unhealthy eating habits, and had an emotional reliance on food. She had health problems to face too.

“In 2011, I went to see a neurologist when I lost the use of my legs,” says Anne. “That was very frightening. I was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis, which is very similar to MS and I was put on medication similar to that for MS.”

Transverse Myelitis is a neurological disorder caused by inflammation of the spinal cord. When the spinal cord gets inflamed, this can damage the insulating material, called myelin, that covers nerve cell fibres. Myelitis refers to inflammation of the spinal cord.

“I had no mobility,” says Anne. “I wasn’t able to move, and I had terrible back pain issues.

“When I could get up on my feet, my two legs would go from under me. It was like someone kicked me from behind and I’d fall helplessly causing more damage.

“I could be fine for a few months, then everything flared up again.

“Because of my unhealthy weight and my spinal condition, I was a ticking time bomb. I think at that time my mother was nearly fitter than me.”

Anne was fortunate to have manpower to help her out.

“My son Jake was very good to me and still is,” says Anne.

“He always makes sure that I am alright for everything and he does the ‘man jobs’ around the house.”

When Anne was 46 last year, she had spinal surgery in the Mater Hospital Cork.

“I had surgery to repair bulging discs in my back,” says Anne. “The surgery helped me 100% to move a lot more.

“Before the operation, I was house-bound. I had to drive an automatic car, I had to have help come to the house. I had regular flus and chest infections. I was able for nothing.”

She was 16 stone.

“I actually don’t take pictures of myself,” says Anne, who looks amazing in her trendy casual walking gear today. “So I hadn’t actually seen my size in a picture.”

When she did chance to see herself in a photo, she got a shock.

“I got an awful fright,” says Anne. “I knew I had unhealthy habits, and my mum had told me I needed to go on a diet, or I’d end up having a heart attack, I was so big.

“I was so bloated, and I had so many health complaints. I have a form of MS and I have issues with my spine.

“With all the weight, I wasn’t able to walk properly when I could put my feet under me.”

Anne was feeling fed-up.

“I was only in my forties,” she says.

But doesn’t life begin at 40? Certainly, a new life can begin in your forties, can’t it?

“It sure can,” says Anne. “And a new life began for me.”

Anne found her Mighty Superpower.

“I had tried so many things to lose weight,” she says.

“I tried different healthy eating plans. I tried various slimming clubs, I tried detoxes.

“I even tried yoga, even though I could hardly move!”

She eventually made the right move.

“When I realised how bad my health had gotten, I got a wake-up call,” says Anne.

“I joined Slimming World in Midleton in January 2023.”

Her Mighty Superpower clicked in. And another superpower, her mother, told Anne to ‘get her act together’. And she did.

“It just clicked for me,” says Anne.

Why did this plan work when so many others had failed?

“The plan helped me eat a more balanced diet without being restricted,” says Anne.

“There are free foods on the plan that I can eat all day long. There are daily ‘sins’ which are treats that are allowed. I save them for late in the day to satisfy my sweet tooth.

“I got great support from my leader, Anne-Marie, and from all the other members at Slimming World in Midleton. We are best friends. I think I’ll be in the group for life!”

Anne has her lifestyle down to a fine art now.

“I always go to weekly meetings, even if I haven’t lost any weight. It is like my weekly therapy,” says Anne.

“I take much less medication than what I did.”

She continued to lose the weight that had held her back before the best years of her life.

“I lost over three stone on the plan without going to the gym, or walking, or doing any regular exercise.”

While Anne lost weight, she gained other valuable assets.

“I look after myself now. I love nice clothes. Before, anything would do me. I have body confidence.

“I am happy within myself, and I like to do meditations.”

Anne loves her whole new world. Her whole new life.

“I am able to do things I could never do three years ago when I was 16 stone,” she says.

“Looking at me today, I bet you’d never think I had MS?”

Is Anne’s Mighty Superpower here to stay.

“It is! I love walking now,” says Anne. “I love walking the dog with Eva. I have made so many friends for life.”

Before her mother passed away last year, she was happy to see her daughter ‘get her act together’.

“She would be really delighted for me,” says Anne.

Now in her forties with a pep in her step and a powerful mindset, coupled with self-confidence, Anne is a new woman enjoying a fulfilled life.

She still has her ‘manpower’, mind.

“Jake still helps me out,” says Anne. “He doesn’t let me lift anything heavy. He is very good to me.”

For more information about Slimming World, see slimmingworld.ie