Second time around pays off for a new slimline Sally
18 WEEKS AFTER REJOINING HER LOCAL SLIMMING WORLD, WOMAN HAS CHANGED HER WHOLE LIFE
THE last time Sally Cooper gave Slimming World a go, she found it hard to commit and eventually gave up.
But in the months leading up to her second stint, a sense of determination built up inside her.
And just 18 weeks after her restart meeting on January 7, she had dropped from just under 14 stone to 10st 3lb.
From January to May, her dress size plunged from an 18 to an eight.
She said: “I didn’t expect it to happen so easily at all! I’d tried Slimming World a few years ago, during lockdown, and everything just seemed to be going against me around then - which is how a lot of people felt, I’m sure.
“I’ve been dieting on and off for years so it wasn’t a surprise. But then last year I really felt at my worst and saw pictures of myself that started to motivate me.”
It was at that point after her selfbelief had plummeted that she somehow managed to find more determination than ever before.
She said: “I just decided to give myself a kick up the backside and try harder!”
The 59-year-old, who works as an artist, painting people’s families, pets and homes, went to the Slimming World group in Countesthorpe and, by May 13, she was the slimmer of the week, having lost an average of three pounds a week for the past 16 weeks.
As well as transforming how she looks, the weight loss has given her a new love of exercise.
While her old pastimes involved sitting on the sofa, her new hobby is doing 5km runs.
She said that in January, when she did her first 5k, it took her more than 40 minutes, but that her latest record is down to 28-and-ahalf minutes.
Her furthest run was 16.5km and she can swim 200 lengths of a pool without resting.
The changes to her life are almost endless, she said.
“I used to shy away from the camera, being mortified of how I looked, and hide under baggy clothes,” said Sally.
“But now I’m proud to have my photo taken. I eat so much more healthily but I never go hungry - it’s reignited my love of cooking. It’s improved my sleep, my skin is healthier and I generally just feel healthier all round.”
■ To find a Slimming World group near you, visit: slimmingworld.co.uk
I used to shy away from the camera and hide under baggy clothes Slimline Sally Cooper