ED POUNDS AND FOUND THEY COULD SMILE AGAIN
BEKI’S CT FILE HIL’S T FILE MANDY’S FACT FILE MEGAN’S FACT FILE
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World. I’d already convinced myself it wouldn’t work. I’d tried everything else – how would this be different? “Finding out I could eat filling, tasty meals that worked around my hectic lifestyle boosted my confidence.
“I’d keep Slimming World high-fibre bars on hand, then have pasta salads for lunch and homemade chilli for dinner. “When I met my partner Rhys, I was 2st 7lb lighter and had the confidence to apply for my first job in the NHS. “After losing 5st I was able to come off medication for fibromyalgia. “When I was promoted last April, I was so grateful to be in good health. At 5st heavier there was no way I could have stayed on my feet for 13-hour shifts, running up and down a ward in PPE.
“The patients comment on my bubbly personality and boundless energy and I know it’s down to losing weight.”
Height: 5ft 6in ht before: 15st 1lb ght now: 10st 1lb Total lost: 5st ght: 6ft 2in efore: 25st 11lb after: 13st 10lb ost: 11st 13lb to lose weight. Jo, en to Slimming past, suggested we
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b in the first week, seem possible. By ast year, I had a own from 60in. ber I hit my target 10lb. longer worry I’m orrowed time – making plans for a Jo I had never sible.”
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MANDY Williams, 47, is a supermarket customer assistant. She lives in Godre’r Graig, Neath Port Talbot, with her husband, Iwan, and their son, Joseff, seven.
“As I pushed a heavy trolley of food down the fruit and veg aisle, I suddenly had to stop and lean on the handle. Painful arthritis in my knee, which had started in 2003, had been slowing me down.
“I went to see my GP, who told me the best long-term remedy was weight loss. I’d been overweight for as long as I could remember.
“The hours at work were long on top of caring for an energetic toddler, and I knew that pasties for lunch, followed by fish and chips for dinner had contributed to my weight gain.
“On Boxing Day 2016, a Slimming World leaflet dropped through my letter box.
MEGAN Hodgson, 25, is a care assistant. She lives in Clophill, Beds, with her partner Ryan.
“I feel fired up for the busy day ahead. It was such a difference to how exhausted I used to feel before losing weight, when I’d drag myself out of bed after tossing and turning all night, and get through the day on packets of crisps and cheese sandwiches.
“Over the years I’d gradually gained weight. While my doctor had told me losing weight might help to improve my polycystic ovary syndrome symptoms, he warned me that PCOS could make slimming down more difficult.
“Then, in October 2018, after a family trip to New York, I scrolled through the pictures my mum had taken, and barely recognised myself. I felt hopeless about my chances, but I really wanted to give weight loss a go. When ★
My friend Claire was already a member and I asked if I could go along with her.
“Soon my shelves were bursting with Slimming World cookbooks and every week my weight came down.
“When nonessential shops were shut last spring, work got even busier and more exhausting. But now I had the stamina to keep going.”
I walked into my first group two months later, I was a nervous wreck. But I began to make healthy lifestyle changes. I’d make overnight oats so I always had a breakfast ready in the morning, took homemade soup to work for lunch, and for dinner, I’d cook up a delicious pepper risotto. Week by week the pounds fell away.
“I love having the energy to give my patients my all.”
Height: 5ft 5in Weight before: 14st Weight after: 10st 2lbs Total lost: 3st 12lbs
Height: 5ft 7in Weight before: 19st 1lb Weight after: 11st 5½lbs Total lost: 7st 9½lbs
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