A couple from Dorchester have managed to transform their lives and avoid an unhealthy future.

Jenny Jones and Chris Crawshaw are celebrating losing more than five stone together, both hitting their target goal in the same week.

For Jenny it's a massive achievement as a diabetes test before she started her diet revealed that she was a borderline type 2 diabetic.

Having been a Weight Watchers member in the past after the birth of her third child, Jenny knew that it worked and rejoined as soon as soon as she could.

She said: “My family was worried about me as I’d put on a bit of weight after a few health conditions. Before then I was actually quite slim, and I blamed the treatment.

"I justified my weight with my illness, but I knew that getting the weight off would help.”

She added: “I’d convinced myself that it wasn’t going to work, but I knew that I couldn’t do it on my own – I needed the support, and the structure of turning up to be weighed."

Previously used to a very active lifestyle – having been in the army and was an avid runner – Chris had suffered an injury that meant he couldn’t exercise as much as he wanted to.

Speaking about his weight he said: “I continued to eat the same way I always had, and the weight crept on.

“I was going on holiday in August and my shorts didn’t fit. I wanted to buy more online but I wasn’t sure what size to get. Jenny had a measuring tape, so she measured my waist and it was 38 inches. Then she went on the NHS website and checked my BMI. I pulled out my phone and joined up on the spot.”

Agnieszka Graja, a diabetes specialist nurse, said: "Being a healthy weight can help to reduce insulin resistance - prevent type developing type 2 diabetes as well as generally help to reduce risk of health complications.

"If you eat and drink more energy (calories) than you use you will gain weight. Weight gain or loss is determined by balancing food and physical activity. Less food and more physical activity aids weight loss.

"If you need to lose weight, try to reduce the amount of high calorie food you eat - those high in fat and sugar (biscuits, cakes, chocolate, crisps, fried foods, sugary drinks). Increasing the amount of fruit and vegetable you eat can help to fill you up for fewer calories.

"Eating regular meals can help to regulate your metabolism as well as prevent over consumption of foods. Look at the food on your plate, keep the food diary, you may not necessary need to eat less food but changing the proportions of what you eat, e.g. more fruit, vegetable and salad but less carbohydrates."