MUM extraordinaire Emma King is today almost half the woman she used to be - but twice as hungry to grab life with both hands.

Richard Cornwell

FITNESS addict Emma King has lost an incredible seven and a half stone in a year . . . without going on a diet.

Mum-of-one Mrs King says she is happier, lighter and brimming with energy after her exercise marathon which has seen her weight plummet from 17 stone 13 lb to a mere 10 stone 5 lb.

While previously she was an 18 to 20 dress size, she is now a size 10, and feels fantastic.

Now she is in training to run a 10 kilometre race, aiming to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK, in memory of her husband Shaun's grandmother Shirley Clark, who died four months ago from the disease.

“It was after I had my son Daniel that I was not working, home all day and started eating and put on a lot of weight,” said Mrs King, 28, of Hogarth Road, Ipswich.

“I got depressed about it and decided I really had to do something - and I am so glad I did. It really has changed me as a person. I am happier and I have so much energy, and I have met so many new friends.

“I was determined to lose the weight but the friends I have made in the fitness classes spurred me on. It's been fantastic.”

She started the fitness regime a year ago, leaving husband Shaun, 29, a transport manager with OOCL at Levington, to look after two-year-old Daniel, while she went each week night to Felixstowe Leisure Centre to do two classes a night.

Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of Emma's weight loss is that she shed the pounds - and the stones - with virtually no change in her diet.

She says that she does now try to eat more healthily than before, but she still eats three square meals a day and puts her weight loss all down to the exercise regime she has been putting herself through at Felixstowe Leisure Centre.

She now goes to two exercise sessions a night five nights a week where she works with fitness studio co-ordinator Sara Hazelwood.

These cover all areas of fitness - from well-known aspects like aerobics and step to newer forms of exercise like combat, body pump and attack.

Emma insists that there was little change in her eating habits, her weight-loss was down to purely exercise and no dieting.

“It was hard to begin with because I was the largest and I needed to work hard but everyone was brilliant,” she said.

“I think I have become addicted to exercise. It is really good fun, too.”

The amount she lost is the same as The Evening Star's entertainment writer, Wayne Savage, weighs - and he went along to Asda at Goddard Road to see what that amount of sugar looked like as well.

- Emma will be joining thousands of other runners when she sets of on July 11 from Hyde Park Corner in the London 2010 10K race.

“My fitness instructor said now I had lost the weight I should do something with my new self and raise some money for a good cause,” she said.

“I decided to run a race and while I have never run that far before I am determined to do it and do it in a good time.

“I am in training now and want to raise as much money as I can for Bowel Cancer UK and raise awareness about this awful disease to save lives.”

Sponsor Emma by going on-line to: www.justgiving.com/emma-king0

- BOWEL cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer - but it can be successfully treated if caught early enough.

Symptoms include bleeding from the bottom, severe abdominal pain, a lump in the tummy.

People considered at risk from the disease - those who have a close relative who has suffered from it - can be screened to ensure any changes in their bowel are caught early.

Causes of the disease are thought to include not eating enough fibre, being seriously overweight, eating too much meat or processed foods.

If you are at all concerned you should see your GP - don't die of embarrassment!

Source: www.beatingbowelcancer.org

Click here to sponsor Emma