THE dating scene beckons for a woman who shed almost half her body weight.

Kerry Hopkins, 38, dropped from 19st 3lbs to 12st 1lbs in just 10 months.

After almost a year on, she has kept the weight off and has developed new-found confidence.

“I feel happier about dating,” said Kerry, from West Drayton. “Since last year I’ve been on quite a few more dates and I feel very comfortable about meeting new people now.”

At the beginning of 2012 Kerry knew she weighed more than she ever had.

“I was starting to struggle to get into size 24 clothes, which meant there were very few places on the high street that I could go shopping in,” said Kerry, who works as a customer services advisor.

“Knowing my dieting efforts in the past had only been short term I knew I needed to do something drastic and different to anything I’d tried before.”

Kerry began the LighterLife Total programme, in which meals are replaced by low-calorie shakes which contain vitamins and minerals.

She also received weekly counselling to address the psychological issues behind her over-eating, to ensure she kept the weight off.

“It re-affirmed lots of things that I already knew about living a healthy lifestyle, plus it was great to have a group of people going through the exact same process,” she said.

“It was a safe place to ask questions and get an answer from people who knew how you were feeling too.”

Kerry gradually began re-introducing food and continued with the counselling, and by October had shed 7st.

She says she feels ‘amazing’ and is now training for the London-Brighton bike ride.

“That has given real focus to my exercise; for me the key is to have something to work towards, so I will be on the hunt for my next challenge very soon.”