Sweet Shop Slimmers
A mum and daughter achieved the impossible!
HOLLIE WEBB, 23, SAYS: “Most restaurants have a kids’ menu with smaller portions for little ones – but even as a child, I had no concept of small portions. I ate what the grown-ups ate. And as a result, I was the biggest kid in class at primary school. I spent my lunch money on treats and sweets from the local shop.
“But my real downfall was when Mum bought a sweet shop when I was 15. I’d always had a sweet tooth and her new business gave me the freedom to indulge it as much as I wanted.
“When, at 17, I moved into a flat with my childhood sweetheart, Marcus Webb, my eating habits grew even worse. Every day, I’d get a large portion of chips for lunch, stopping by Mum’s shop to grab a bag of sweets too.
“While Marcus was active and worked off our evening takeaways playing cricket or football, I was a couch potato.
“By the time I was 20, I was a size 22 and miserable. And when Marcus and I decided to start trying for a baby, I knew I had to act. My weight could stand in the way of me conceiving and if I did get pregnant, what kind of role model would I be for my baby?
“So I joined Slimming World, weighing 15st 8lbs. I stuck to the plan and it worked. Within nine months, I’d lost three stone and conceived in autumn 2014.
“Working in the sweet shop meant Mum’s weight had crept up to 12st 2lbs and she decided to join Slimming World too. ‘I don’t want to be a fat nanny,’ she laughed.
“But during my pregnancy, I stopped going and slipped back into my old ways. Crisps, chips and of course, bags of sweets... to say I was eating for two was putting it kindly.
“By the time I gave birth to Felix in April 2015, I was back in my size 20 clothes. I felt ashamed. My son deserved a healthy, happy mum.
“All the resolve came flooding back. “I did it once, I can do it again,” I told myself. So I returned to Slimming World – I was back up to 14st 13lbs.
“Losing weight with Mum was great. We’d text to see what the other was cooking
My son deserved a healthy, happy mum. My resolve flooded back
that night and if I ever fancied something that was bad for me, I knew she’d talk me out of it.
“In my first week, I lost 5lbs. In just over a year, I got down to my target weight of 9st 10lbs and a size 8. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever been genuinely slim – and so happy.
“Best of all, I know that Felix, now two, will always be proud of me. I can run around after him, pick him up and chase him in the park. And that really is the sweetest feeling.”
LISA MALLETT, 47, SAYS: “At 5ft, I spent my life as a size 8-10 and had always been slim.
“I guess that’s why I didn’t really notice Hollie’s weight when she was younger. I knew she was bigger but she was growing up as much as she was growing out and when she hit 5ft 7in, we just presumed she had a big frame.
“Then, 10 years ago, I broke up with Hollie and her brother Scott’s father. As I struggled to come to terms with my new role as a single mum, I couldn’t face food and my weight plummeted.
“However, two years later, in 2009, I found love again when I met Glen online and within a few months, we bought a sweet shop together. Between that and the happiness of being in a new relationship, my weight was the last thing on my mind.
“So it wasn’t until Hollie announced she was going to be a mum at the end of 2014, that I decided to do something about my weight. I joined Slimming World in January 2015 and changed my eating habits for good.
“Within 10 months, I’d lost nearly three stone and was down to 10st 5lbs and a size 10. It was only then I realised just how sluggish and lethargic I’d felt before.
“You can enjoy sweets for the moment you’re eating them, but nothing tastes as good as being slim, fit, and healthy feels.”
Hollie and Lisa are now Slimming World consultants. To find your nearest Slimming World group visit WWW.SLIMMINGWORLD.CO.UK