NURSING auxiliary Joan Nichols found her own prescription for health when she realised she was in worse shape than some of her patients!

Joan, aged 40, and based at Great Lever Health Centre remembers: "I couldn't walk upstairs without getting breathless. I was constantly feeling tired and suffered almost continuous headaches and heartburn."

Worse still for Joan - from Bradford Road, Great Lever - was that the extra weight proved very ageing. "Sometimes, people mistook my four-year-old daughter Rebekah for my grand-daughter!" And on one distressing occasion when her lively young daughter ran off towards a main road, Joan found that she could not run fast enough to catch her.

"Someone saw what was happening from across the road and dashed over to stop her. I felt terrible about being so big then, and decided I must do something about it," she stated.

By then, Joan, just 5 foot 2 inches tall, weighed 15 stone 5lb and had to buy dress size 24/26.

She is a committed Christian and regular attender at Bolton Pentecostal Church. "At the beginning of the year I prayed 'Lord, let me go to bed and wake up thin.' I feel I have done just that because the time has really flown by!"

During the intervening months, Joan started going to Farnworth Health Club. "When I first joined, my blood pressure was high and my pulse rate was 91. Within six months, my blood pressure had come down and my pulse rate had dropped to 53 just by doing the Aquatics exercises in the pool," she explained. Nor has Joan been starving herself. "I cut out cakes and biscuits because I felt they were empty calories, but I've just been on a sensible eating plan combined with regular exercise," she said.

"Now I find I can eat anything at all - in moderation, of course. If I want to go for a burger and fries, I do. If I feel like having a packet of crisps or a piece of cake, I do, but not every day."

Now, Joan is down to 9 stone 5lb, dress-size 12-14...and looks years younger. Her husband Bob, sons Peter, aged 18, and 17-years old Andrew are delighted with the new-look, and Rebekah loves her "little mum."

Joan also feels much happier in her work, and that she's a much better advertisement for the Community Healthcare Trust for whom she works.

She's not only grateful for the help and encouragement from Health Club owner Carol Doran and Club members, but also from her own Church members. Now, Joan has her eye on a "little strappy black number" instead of the maternity dresses she was forced to wear. And the future looks decidedly healthy.

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