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Slimming World woman of the year 2016 Hollie Barrett unveils her new slimline figure, November 10 2016. She is pictured here with partner Thomas Baker. See National News story NNSLIM; A mum who once got so out of breath chasing her little girl up the stairs that she couldn’t even speak to read her a bedtime story has lost nearly half her body weight. At her heaviest Hollie Barrett tipped the scales at 17st 11lbs and feared her children would be bullied because of her size. Now the 30-year-old, from Blunderston in Suffolk, has shed 8st 6lbs and dropped six dress sizes – going from a size 20 to an 8 – to be named Slimming World’s Woman of the Year 2016. Hollie, who lives with partner Thomas and their two children Ethan, 11, and four-year-old Imogen, says: “I felt like my weight was holding me back in every aspect of my life, especially when it came to doing things with my children. Even things other mums might take for granted, like taking them swimming, seemed off limits because I felt so self-conscious. I once chased Imogen up the stairs to bed and was so breathless I couldn’t speak properly to read her a book – it broke my heart. Now I finally feel like the person – and the mum – I was meant to be all along.”