Lizzy ready to take on world as slimming consultant after loss of 3 stone
A DERBYSHIRE woman who piled on the pounds during her battle with a debilitating illness has signed up to become a consultant with the weight-loss company that helped her shed 3st.
Lizzy Butterfield, 36, from Ashbourne, was struck down with vertigo caused by transferred migraines and spent around a year unable to function normally.
She turned to food for comfort and her weight started to increase.
By the time she had finally brought her dizziness under control, her weight had risen to nearly 12st – and this started causing complications with her asthma, as being unable to exercise and often unable to leave the house, her fitness levels had taken a hit.
Her life was turned around by her local Slimming World group, which she was inspired to join after the shock of seeing how much her best friend had lost.
She said: “I’d always been the thinner of the two of us, but then seeing her losing so much weight in such a short space of time brought home to me just how much I’d gained during the time I had my vertigo.
“She told me all about her weight loss journey with Slimming World, and I was fascinated by the concept. I didn’t want to sign up to another restrictive diet and live off lettuce, but I also knew I didn’t want to stay at this weight forever.
“She assured me that Slimming World wasn’t a diet, but a lifestyle change, and that you could eat anything you wanted on it, as long as you stayed within your ‘Syns’.
“It sounded amazing, so I looked up my closest group and found one just down the road from my house. The following week I went along. I was quite nervous about walking through the doors, and I wasn’t sure about the whole idea of a group, but as soon as I walked in I knew I was in the right place.
“I got a lovely warm welcome and sat down with the consultant and a couple of other ‘newbies’ to have our new-member talk.
“The consultant, Jayne Scott, was lovely and welcoming and instantly put everyone at ease.
“The room was filled with people laughing and chatting, and what struck me the most was how happy everyone seemed to be. The atmosphere was so positive, and I
started to relax.”
Lizzy, who works in manufacturing, first joined her local group six years ago, in Hatton, where she lived at the time. By following Slimming World’s guidance and food optimisation plans, she quickly started losing weight, and set herself a target to lose a stone before her 30th birthday – even buying a slinky dress as an incentive.
She easily reached this milestone and went on to lose another 2st - eventually dropping below 9st - a weight she had not seen since her 20s.
Her impressive weight loss had a dramatic effect on her health and fitness, and she took up running as a hobby for the first time in her life, quickly building up to 5km runs and taking part in a series of fundraising endurance events and charity runs.
She carried on attending her local Hatton-based Slimming World group every week, even after she moved to Ashbourne in 2016. As a target member she was able to help the group’s consultant motivate other members at the same time as inspiring her friends to join her.
She said: “My consultant had by this point become a firm friend, and I had inadvertently become a walking Slimming World advert – half the girls at work went and joined their local groups after seeing my amazing weight loss.
“My lovely group continued to be so supportive of me and over the years I am honoured to have been awarded Miss Slinky, Greatest Loser, Woman of the Year and Diamond Member of the Year.”
A long spell of furlough leave during the coronavirus pandemic gave Lizzy an appetite for becoming her own boss, so she finally bit the bullet and applied to become a consultant of her own group, which is starting later this month.
She said: “I have known for a long time that I want to be a Slimming World consultant, but I have never quite been ready to take the plunge until now. I want to create a fantastic, supportive group to help people on their journey and to achieve all their goals whether they be weight loss, fitness, health or anything else. I can’t wait to start welcoming members and explaining that, if Slimming World can help me change my life, it can help them too.”
Lizzy’s new group will begin on Thursday evenings, from January 28 at St Oswald’s Church Hall in School Lane, Ashbourne, when Covid measures allow but initially they will start online, through video-conferencing software. For details, call 07941 786576.