‘I was a struggling teenage mum with a big dream’ Slimming World founder Margaret Miles-bramwell shares her story
Slimming World founder, Margaret Miles-bramwell OBE, FRSA, reveals the incredible story of how she built a business that has helped millions of people lose weight
My biological mother, Joy, was a 24-year-old unmarried nurse who became pregnant by Harry, a worldly-wise married businessman in his 40s. Keeping me was out of the question, so in April 1948, she handed me to Harry’s sister, Rosa, who in turn handed me to Emma Selina and Samuel Birch from the mining village of South Normanton, Derbyshire. The same day I was born, Harry visited Joy in hospital with a new woman on his arm and announced their affair was over. I can’t imagine Joy’s shock, grief and anger at losing us both at the same time. Emma Selina and Samuel became Mum and Dad to me. He was a miner, she was a housewife who plumped every cushion to perfection. Sometimes, we would visit a rather glamorous couple who owned a dress shop in London. They would dress me in fine clothes, which I thought was lovely. Mum told me they were refugees, but they weren’t, they were Joy and Harry. They had reunited six months after I was born and lived together, unmarried, until he died in his 80s, though he retained his roving eye.
PREGNANCY
School made my world light up and it was largely down to my teacher that I had the confidence to do what I was later to do in life. Miss Greasley would tell Mum how clever I was. She gave me a positive message about myself and no matter how chubby and unattractive I felt, how unruly my hair got, I always wanted to live up to that. Despite my strong work ethic, my rebellious streak came to the fore. Aged 14, I was being collected at the school gates by Roy Miles, a 19-year-old charismatic, motorbike-mad, jiving Jack-the-lad.
Then I missed a period. When the doctor told Mum, she collapsed dramatically across his desk before screaming ‘like mother, like daughter’. I felt rejected all over again. Dad’s sadness was even worse to bear. Although my sense of shame was off the scale, I refused to give up my baby, a decision I’ve never regretted. I went to live with Roy’s sister and we married four days after my 16th birthday, with a bouquet covering my bump. Baby Claire was 7lb 6oz, cuter than cute, but we were desperate for money and when she was three months old, I took a job in a hardware store. It couldn’t have been further than my dreams of medical school. No one spoke to me and I would find a quiet place to sob into my duster. I was earning £4 a week, Roy was earning £12 and, within 18 months, we’d managed to save enough to put a deposit down on a house.
In our own home at last, I had freedom to eat more comfort food and my waistline expanded. There was an absence of good help for weight loss back in the 1960s, and false promises abounded. Anyone remember Limmits slimming biscuits? Two biscuits and a glass of milk replaced two meals a day. I would eat one with black coffee instead, then have a boiled egg, tomato and lettuce for dinner. I lost
2st, thought I’d cracked it, then went back to my old way of eating and was soon heavier than ever. At 16st, I tried slimming clubs. One was a glorified coffee morning, while the other left me feeling judged and humiliated. I felt defensive of overweight people. Surely there was a better way than this? I took books out of the library and became fascinated with the psychological and emotional aspects. Late into the night, I’d scribble away at my little yellow Formica kitchen table that I’d bought second-hand with my savings. My mind began to tick. What if it was possible to eat healthily, feel full and still shed weight? To understand the psychology of overeating, banish shame and offer support to slimmers in a group? There was only one way to find out and, against all odds, I was going to try.
GETTING STARTED
At the time, my marriage wasn’t happy. Roy never had a kind word to say and would stay out all hours. One night, when I asked when he’d be home, he ➺
left in high dudgeon and I banged my head against the wall. Something had to change. I thought about asking the doctor for tranquilisers, but I realised I wanted answers, not drugs. When Roy confessed he was having an affair, I bundled Claire in the car and drove to my parents’ house. He begged for a second chance, so I made him end the affair. I told him I’d never trust him again and if I ever found anyone who genuinely loved me, I’d be off like a shot. Instead, I found solace in getting on with my business plans to escape the poverty trap. Work has proved to be the saviour of my soul and sanity many times.
MAKING PROGRESS
The turning point came over a cup of tea, when I shared my vision for a new kind of slimming club with my neighbour, Josie. Based on restricting some food groups and harnessing the filling power of protein, my Sin-a-day system would free slimmers from unbearable feelings of hunger and deprivation. Included were some of the fundamental principles of Food Optimising, the eating plan we’re still using 52 years later. I wanted a company that put its members first and offered freedom and empowerment. No one in my groups would be made to feel lazy, greedy or guilty about their weight. Negative language, such as ‘do not’ and ‘cut out’ would be replaced by ‘freely eat’, ‘unlimited amounts’ and ‘enjoy’. Josie’s eyes lit up. She’d had weight struggles herself and wanted to get involved, so she asked her husband
Pat to lend us £200 as start-up capital. J&M Slimming Club was born.
I spent a lot of time running things from a phone box, trudging through rain and snow, making calls until my feet went numb. Once my daughter Claire was asleep, I’d be up until 3am refining my diet sheets (now called food diaries) and training documents. I had total confidence (then and now) that what we had to offer slimmers was
better than anything they’d experienced. I would stand in a shop and tell potential members: ‘You will never go hungry and you’ll lose weight. It’s the best thing since sliced bread!’ With sheer hard work and determination, the number of groups grew. I enlisted a business partner, invested in offices and recruited a team, who were all older than me. I was still only 24!
Roy and I went on to have two sons, Ben and Dom, but divorced in 1985. I later fell in love with boating entrepreneur Tony Whittaker, and we married in 1996. Today, we live in Puerto Portals in Mallorca, sailing (our first motor cruiser was called Sinfree!), meeting royalty and hanging out in beachfront clubs with superstars such as Goldie Hawn and Cristiano Ronaldo.
LIVING THE DREAM
Slimming World, my brainchild and lifelong passion, has powered through recessions, and even a robbery and arson attack that once destroyed every scrap of stock, to become a household name. It’s the favourite way to lose weight in the UK and Ireland. So much for those who once tried telling me that slimming clubs had had their day!
Some would call me stubborn and a pain in the you-know-what, but I’m proud of my professionalism and determination. I’d advise anyone not to worry if Plan A fails. There are 25 more letters in the alphabet!