Women drops six stone in a year thanks to sibling rivalry with her skinny sisters

Comparing herself to her slim sisters gave one woman all the incentive she needed to drop a whopping six stone in a year.

Samantha Fitzgerald, 28, grew up as one of six sisters and always felt like 'the ugly one', trying to dodge the camera at family occasions because of her weight.

Sam always saw her younger sisters, Lindy, 26, Claire, 24, Morgan, 23, and Alice, 15, as 'skinny minnies', with dress sizes ranging from size six to 14, while at her biggest she wore a size 20.

But now she fits into a slinky size eight and feels 'one of the pack'.

Sam noticed when she was eight that she seemed to put on weight more easily than her sisters and had a bigger appetite.

"Although I love my sisters dearly, I used to feel left out at times. Whereas they used to have the usual sister squabbles over clothes, I couldn’t borrow theirs as I was too big to fit into them. I used to feel envious and wonder why I had to be the fat one. It didn’t seem fair."

She got into bad food habits and her mum tried to help but Sam could resist buying junk food and fizzy drinks and her weight spiralled out of control as she reached her teens.

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"I was just getting bigger and bigger," she says. "Before I knew it I was a size 14 and weighed around 10 stone. Bearing in mind I am only 5ft, the extra weight looked ridiculous on me.

She remembers the other girls getting excited about fashion and boys and while they were pretty and poopular, she felt like the unattractive one. But despite feeling envious, the family are close and her sisters would always defend Sam from any unkind comments.

Sam continued to gain weight at college and ballooned when she started work.

"To be honest, I didn’t try dieting," she says. "I just continued to eat the same junk food on top of my three meals a day.

"When I started working at 18 I would be really tired when I got home and too lazy to make something for dinner. Because I had money I’d buy a greasy Chinese takeaway and eat it in front of the telly.

"That’s ok now and again as a treat, but I was doing it three times a week and seldom did any exercise.’

As the years rolled by, Samantha continued to pile on the pounds. By 26, she weighed more than 15 stone.

"I felt so uncomfortable and disgusted with myself for letting my weight get so out of control. On nights out I never felt attractive or sexy next to my sisters. They used to get attention left, right and centre and I had to pretend to be happy being the fat, bubbly one."

In June 2012, Samantha realised she had to do something drastic about her weight when she went to the doctors to get her blood pressure checked and the Velcro belt didn’t fit around her arm.

Shortly after, she joined Slimming World. They devised a healthy eating plan, swapping unhealthy meals and replacing them with pasta, jacket potatoes, fruit and veg.

"Finally I’d found a diet that worked for me," she says. "I could eat these carbs unlimited and was allowed 15 sins a day. After one week I lost over three pounds and the weight just continued to drop off. Instead of a surgery cereal for breakfast, I’d have porridge with a banana or a low-fat yogurt.

"I ditched fizzy drinks and guzzled litres of water instead.  On top of this, I started to walk more."

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Incredibly, within six months Samantha had lost four stone and was a dress size 12. Around this time, she met her fiancé, Sean Donnelly, 24, who works in construction, over the internet.

"Having a love interest in my life spurred me on even more so to lose the extra weight. Five months after meeting Sean, I shed another two stone – taking me to a tiny size eight.

"Nowadays, strangers don’t blink an eyelid when we say we’re related. I’m no longer the fat, bubbly one – I’m also sexy and pretty like the rest of them.

"I can finally borrow their clothes and talk about fashion with them. I don’t feel like the odd one out anymore."

Proud sister Lindy said: "I watched her lose weight bit by bit and she’s literally transformed in front of my eyes. It’s shed half her weight and it’s changed her life. She’s a lot happier now and much more confident. I’ve never seen her so determined to do something in her life, but she worked really hard to lose the weight and it’s really paid off. I’m so proud of her, she’s an inspiration to everyone."