Slimming WORLD
A woman is celebrating after losing more than three and a half stone and gaining control of her diabetes.
Lesley Halbert’s inspirational story supports research revealing that losing weight with Slimming World is successful in supporting patients who have type 2 diabetes to lose weight and manage their glucose control.
Lesley who attends an Ayr Slimming World group, joined in February 2019 after feeling very uncomfortable in her clothes while on holiday.
She said: “Enough was enough, apart from the fact that I hated the pictures of myself from the holiday, the impact on my health was huge. I was diabetic, had high blood pressure and high cholesterol too.”
Lesley decided to join her local Slimming World group.
She added: “Staying with the group has helped me be so successful in my weight loss journey.
“The support from Sharon, my consultant, was a huge help and I found all the other members so inspirational and they kept me going each week.”
Lesley followed the Slimming World’s Food Optimising eating plan and started cooking healthy meals from scratch. She swapped fatty meals for cajun chicken, pasta and many more tasty meals.
She says: “People think slimming means going hungry, yet it’s not like that at all with this healthy eating plan. I love food and it’s never once felt like I was on ‘ a diet’ – in fact, people are always surprised at how much food I have on my plate and can’t believe I’m losing weight eating so much delicious food and without ever feeling hungry.
“I can tailor the plan to fit my dietary needs and I can do this with support from my consultant, group and partner.
“This means I still enjoy all my favourite meals like burgers and chips and roast dinners and steak with peppercorn sauce – I’ve just learned how to make small changes like eating lots of vegetables, using lean meat or cooking with low calorie spray instead of oil or butter. It’s brilliant that all the family can eat the same food too.”
To date Lesley’s lost a total of 3st 7.5lb. She’s also more active nowadays and regularly walks over 10,000 steps a day – despite working in an office.
She added: “Thanks to the changes I’ve made my health has improved dramatically and I have drastically reduced the diabetic medicine I take down to one tablet a day, I no longer take any medication for my high blood pressure and my cholesterol is completely normal now.”
Sharon who runs the Ayrshire Slimming World group, said: “We know the obesity crisis is a ticking timebomb, and type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity too. We believe the support you get from being in a warm, empowering group environment is key to helping you eat more healthily and becoming more active too.
“The changes we’ve seen in Lesley are incredible. I hope her success will inspire other people in Ayrshire who’d like to lose weight and improve their health by forming new lifestyle habits and become happier to take action.” For more info visit www. slimmingworld. co. uk
I still enjoy all my favourite meals like burgers and chips and roast dinners