Slimming World Woman of the Year 2010: Harriet’s a new woman after 15st weight loss!

A newly-crowned slimmer of the year who lost 15st in 18 months says she’s proud that she did it all herself without having a gastric band or bypass.

Harriet Jenkins, 25, who dropped 10 dress sizes through healthy eating and exercise to be named Slimming World’s Woman of the Year 2010, says: “I want people to know that even if you’ve got a huge amount of weight to lose, having gastric surgery isn’t the only answer. Eighteen months ago I weighed more than 26½st. I was unemployed, people yelled abuse at me in the street and my family were worried I was heading for an early grave. Now, I’ve lost more than half my body weight and I believe nothing’s impossible. I want to share this feeling with as many people as I can.

“My life’s completely different now and I’ve achieved things I thought I never would, like getting my dream job as a teacher. But it’s not just because I look different and weigh less, it’s also because I’m more confident and finally happy with who I am. I’m so proud of myself for taking control of my life and I don’t think I’d feel the same way if I’d had an operation that forced me to change.”

Harriet, from Southampton, had been overweight from childhood, but put on more weight after her dad John was diagnosed with a fatal liver disease in July 2002. She says: “I would sit by his hospital bed with a big bar of chocolate and then go home and eat some more. I was in the middle of my A-Levels and I didn’t cope well, I turned to food rather than dealing with my emotions.” When Harriet’s father passed away in spring 2003, her comfort eating continued and by the age of 18 she weighed more than 18st.

That summer Harriet went to Nottingham University to study French. “It wasn’t your typical 18-year-old’s experience of university. I’d watch TV in my room with a takeaway and a bottle of wine.” By the time she’d finished her studies in 2008 Harriet was a size 30 and struggled to find smart clothes to fit for job interviews.

She dreamed of becoming a teacher but settled for a job in a Southampton call centre, where boredom and depression saw her turn to food again, eating endless sweets and chocolate at her desk.

When a friend invited Harriet to join her at their local Slimming World group she decided she had nothing (except weight!) to lose. After years of avoiding the scales Harriet was horrified to discover she weighed in at 26st 7½lb – a massive 6st more than she’d expected. She says: “I think I’d been in denial about my size for a long time. I was disgusted but the Consultant wasn’t, she didn’t judge me and I didn’t have to tell anyone else what I weighed which was a huge relief.” 

Harriet started following the club’s Food Optimising eating plan and swapped her diet of ready meals, fast food and chocolate for healthy, home-cooked meals packed with fresh meat, fish and fruit and vegetables. She lost 8lbs in her first week and within a month she’d dropped 1½st and two dress sizes. Harriet says: “Having the freedom to eat such a variety of different foods without having to laboriously weigh, count or measure them was a revelation. I could make so many different meals and there was always something I could snack on if I was hungry. For the first time I was in control of what I was eating, I could say ‘no’ and enjoy treats in moderation like the odd chocolate bar or a few vodka and diet cokes on nights out.”

Since then Harriet’s lost 15st, dropping from a dress size 30 to a 10, completed her teacher training and started a teaching job with her own class of nine and ten-year-olds. Once she started to lose weight she also began to exercise, taking short walks at first, before joining a gym and now she runs regularly. Last month she ran the Great South Run in her dad’s memory for child bereavement charity Simon Says.

Harriet says: “The best thing about losing weight has probably been discovering who I am – and finding that I really like myself. I used to avoid crowds because I felt I was in the way, but at Slimming World I’ve never felt like that. If I was ever down or feeling despondent about my weight the other members made me realise I wasn’t worthless. As my confidence grew I started going out with my friends more. But the greatest achievement was standing up in front of a class of children. Of course there are lots of ways I could have lost weight – including surgery – but Slimming World’s given me the self-esteem and the tools that I need to manage my weight for life. My weight loss has been a journey and I feel like I’ve arrived. This is me.” 

– Ends –

Vital statistics
Name: Harriet Jenkins
Age: 25
Slimming World group: Harriet started at Bev Scott’s Southampton group in May 2009 but now attends the Freemantle group run by Joanna Mortimore
Height: 5ft 8½in
Starting weight: 26st 7½lb
Current weight: 11st 7½lb
Weight loss: 15st
Starting dress size: 30
Current dress size: 10 

Before menu:
Breakfast: Two sausage rolls and two doughnuts
Mid morning: A chocolate bar or a packet of crisps
Lunch: Bacon and egg sandwiches, crisps and biscuits. Diet Coke
Mid afternoon: Jelly sweets
After work: Vodka and Coke. A bag of nuts
Dinner: Ready meal spaghetti Bolognese or lasagne
Snacks: Sweets or chocolate

After menu
Breakfast: Weetabix with a banana and fat free flavoured yogurt and a cup of coffee
Mid morning: A cereal bar and fruit
Lunch: Baked potato and beans, couscous or omelette with a big salad
Mid afternoon: Fruit or pieces of ham or chicken
Dinner: Big bowl of homemade carrot and coriander soup with a big salad of mixed vegetables and high fibre crispbread, or homemade breaded chicken and potato wedges baked in the oven and salad. 
Snacks: Raspberries, frozen Müllerlight yogurt
Treats: Milky Way.

– ends –

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For further information please contact the Slimming World press office on 01773 546039, 01773 546101 or 01773 546146 or email: public.relations@slimming-world.com For queries out of office hours contact PR Manager Jenny Caven on 07795445004.

Notes to Editors

• Slimming World is the largest and most advanced slimming organisation in the UK. Margaret Miles-Bramwell (OBE, FRSA) founded the company in 1969 and there are now more than 6,700 groups held weekly nationwide via a network of 2,700 Slimming World trained Consultants.
•  350,000 members attend Slimming World every week and achieve outstanding success.
• Members lose 17,857 stones every week: 2,551 stones every day, over 106 stones every hour, that’s 1 stone 10 lbs lost every minute of every day with Slimming World.
• Slimming World’s Woman of the Year competition is the club’s flagship competition, recognising women who’ve transformed their lives by losing weight to not only look better but feel great too. The winner chooses between a £3,000 cash prize or an all-inclusive seven-night spa break in Cancun, Mexico.
• Slimming World pioneered referral schemes in the UK and actively supports the building of partnerships with the NHS and local authorities to develop effective strategies to manage overweight and obesity in the community. Slimming World works with university researchers and specialists in an active research programme to further knowledge of the causes and treatment of obesity.
• Slimming World’s healthy eating plan, Food Optimising, and the principles behind Slimming World’s philosophy are based on a deep understanding of the challenges faced by overweight people. Slimming World integrates practical, up-to-date dietary advice with a highly developed support system.
• Slimming World Consultants receive specific training in dietary aspects and the role of physical activity in weight control. The highly developed training focuses on facilitating behaviour change in a group environment, acknowledged by experts as being the most effective way to support long-term weight management.
• In 2009 Slimming World celebrated its 40th Anniversary and four decades of helping people to lose weight without deprivation, guilt or hunger.