Leona Breen turned her life around with Slimming World
LEONA Breen from Ferns had had struggled with her weight for almost 20 years. She had tried every diet going, but nothing ever gave her lasting results.
When she turned 30 she decided enough was enough: “I hated looking at myself in the mirror; I had no confidence and my hips hurt when I walked.” Leona has two very energetic boys and struggled to keep up with them. “One of my boys was recently diagnosed with autism and I thought, ‘who would care for him if something ever happened to me?’” She was constantly sick with some cold or flu and fed up of feeling this way.
Leona was talking to her sister one day and she was telling her about Slimming World and how amazing it was; all the meals and variety of foods you could enjoy. “She advised me to give it a go and my response to her was; ‘I hate those slimming clubs, they are all the same’, but the more we talked about it the more I decided I would go along to my local group and see what it was like – what did I have to lose?”
Leona was nervous heading in but was immediately greeted by the consultant Edel, who had a warm smile and welcomed her to Slimming World. “Edel explained Food Optimising to me in an informal comfortable setting with other new members, where we were free to ask as many questions as we wanted.” Leona realized it was not complicated to follow, and the amount of food that was available to enjoy was brilliant; nothing was off limits.
She came away excited and motivated to give it a go. “I ate so much food that week and for the first time ever I wasn’t hungry; I thought to myself that there was no way I could lose weight on this plan; I ate potatoes like they were going out of fashion!” Leona felt it was all a bit too good to be true.
However, the next week in group she stepped up on the scales and to her shock she was down 7 pounds! She couldn’t believe it! “From that moment on I was converted, this slimming group was like no other that I had ever been part of before, I wasn’t hungry, I was able to have my treats so I didn’t feel deprived and I was losing weight every week.”
Leona has become more adventurous with meals and created some lovely dishes which are enjoyed by all the family. “I really enjoy cooking now and the recipes are so quick and simple and there are hundreds to try out online.” A family favourite is chicken curry with Slimming World chips or rice. Every week, that time in group was crucial to get new ideas and to get so much support from her fellow members, who cheered her on all the way to her fantastic 4 stone loss!
“I will never forget the night I got to my target! I couldn’t believe I achieved this, it felt amazing! My life has completely changed because of Slimming World, my confidence is through the roof, I feel great and I actually feel like I am finally starting to live.” Leona even joined her local gym and now loves working out and being active; now her 2 boys have to keep up with her!