IPSWICH: A couple who decided to fight the flab together have a spring in their step today after shedding more than 11 stone between them.

Denise and Stephen Calver from Ipswich swapped their convenience food and sugary snacks for healthy meals.

Denise dropped from 18st 0.5lb to 11st 3lb and Stephen dropped from 16st to 11st 2lb.

Denise said: “What really worked for us was doing it together – it meant that we carried on when we might ordinarily have lost motivation. We supported each other and spurred each other on each week.”

Stephen added: “It was a revelation that we could eat so much because I think we’d both thought that going hungry was a sacrifice you had to make to lose weight.”

The slimmers’ efforts have been so impressive that they have reached the national finals of Slimming World’s Couple of the Year 2011 competition.

Denise and Stephen used to have cosy nights on the sofa with a meal and a bottle of wine – before realisng their clothes were becoming too tight for them.

The couple now have higher energy levels after losing the weight and regularly go walking and swimming together.

Claire Keeling, who runs the Ipswich Slimming World group, said: “I’m so proud of Denise and Stephen.

“They’re living proof that slimmers are more successful when they lose weight with a loved one.”

Denise and Stephen went to Derbyshire to represent Ipswich at the Slimming World HQ for the finals on March 6 after losing a combined weight of 11st 9.5lb.

n Have you managed to fight the flab? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters @eveningstar.co.uk