After a lifetime of putting on weight because of eating chips, Janice Lomas was permanently breathless and struggled to walk.
But even though she weighed 17st 12lbs she couldn't accept that her size was causing her health problems so severe that she had to take time off work.
And then she was given the motivation she needed to see the reality - and to lose almost half her bodyweight: doctors told her she would not live to see her four grandchildren grow up.
Devoted grandmother Janice, 64, lost an incredible nine stone in two years after drastically overhauling the 'chip pan' diet that she was brought up on.
Janice, who now weighs 8st 5lbs, said: "I had tests and was shocked when I was told it was my weight.
"I have four grandchildren and they were aged between five and 10. I was told that I wouldn't live long enough to see them grow up.
"If I was going to live to see them into adulthood and enjoy my life with them then I had to do something about it."
She said: "I was brought up in Scotland out of a chip pan. Now I stop when I've had enough and I cook differently. Everything I buy is as low-fat as possible. I don't really eat sweet things any more."
Janice now strolls two miles to her daughter's house in Walkden, Salford, every day and then two miles back to her home in Little Hulton.
It's taken her 23 months to drop from a size 30 to a size 10 and she has now been named Manchester's Slimming World slimmer of the year.