A WOMAN who has been hailed an inspiration because of her weight loss journey has realised her dream by completing the Total Warrior challenge.

Joy Heighton, 38, from Ormsgill Lane Barrow, joined Slimming World in February last year because she hated the way she looked.

Ms Heighton, a mother of four, struggled to leave the house because she was depressed and felt she couldn't do the things other parents could do with their children.

With the encouragement of her sister and mum, she finally took the plunge and joined the group last year.

When she first joined the weight loss group, Ms Heighton was wearing clothes in a size 24, but just 18 months later she is now wearing a size eight to 10.

She said: "I didn't notice the weight loss at first, it was other people telling me how much of an inspiration I was.

"It finally hit me when my sister told me how proud she was of me and showed me before and after pictures."

The Total Warrior challenge is something that she has always wanted to do - however, because of her size and fitness levels, she was unable to do so.

With the help of her best friend Mike Gibson, they completed the challenge on Sunday.

She said: "I feel battered and bruised now. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of Mike.

"It was tough, but not as bad as I expected. I didn't know my own strength."

Ms Heighton met Mr Gibson at Slimming World when they were both halfway through their journeys.

They instantly became best friends and decided to help and support each other.

Mr Gibson travels from Witherslack each week to attend the meetings. He has now lost 7st and she has lost 6st 5lbs.

The two train together at Nuffield Gym and have supported each other every step of the way.

The pair owe a lot of thanks to their consultant Dawn Attwood.

Ms Heighton said: "She is an amazing consultant and, at times, when it got hard, she was there for us and made it so much easier to carry on.

"With the help of Dawn, I have started to feel more confident about myself and my appearance.

"Doing Slimming World doesn't feel like being on a diet, it is more like a much-needed lifestyle change.

"When I first started, I wouldn't take my kids out swimming because I couldn't stand to be in a swimsuit, but now, I will happily take them out swimming."

The Lake District Total Warrior was a big challenge for Ms Heighton because she doesn't like to be underwater, and the amount of mud and water on the course was something she had to overcome.

She has now beaten those fears thanks to the challenge, which took place at Shap at the weekend.

Her one piece of advice to anyone in her situation is to join a Slimming World group because it is not a diet but a lifestyle change.

This year, Ms Heighton was thrilled to win Slimming World's Miss Slinky award.