Real Success

If you’d love to lose weight, and are looking for a deliciously easy healthy eating plan and the right kind of friendly support, let our members tell you about Slimming World...

• Louise is crying tears of joy
• Stephen’s aiming for his topless target!
• Gabrielle shares her joy after joining a group
• And Rebecca says goodbye to dieting, and hello to Slimming World!

To find out more and begin your own weight loss journey, find your nearest friendly group.

Tears of joy for Louise

Since the age of 18 I’ve been on various diets, all of which made me feel hungry and unhappy. After I had my little girl in 2006 my weight ballooned and I found myself buying size 24 clothes.

I’d totally lost my confidence and felt really low. I used to be so outgoing – the life and soul of the party. Now I just felt like a sad blob in the corner. I needed a real boost.

Then two things happened: my friend asked me to be her bridesmaid in October this year and me and my fiancé set our wedding date for July 2011. I was determined not to be a fat bridesmaid and most of all a bulging bride! I realised this was it – I needed to do something!

My friend, Gem, had been telling me about Slimming World for ages – all that I could think was ‘how can you lose so much weight and eat so much food?’. Eventually, in June 2010, I thought I'd give it a try.

At the end of the group, I got on the scales and I was the heaviest I’d ever been. My heart sank into my stomach as I realised I’d been living in denial. However, Kierston, my Consultant, was so supportive and non-judgemental. As well as a warm welcome she helped me understand that losing weight doesn’t have to be strict and regimental.

I’ve been going to Slimming World for 6 weeks and have already lost 17½lbs. This time it feels so right, and I really think I will do it. I’m so happy, I could cry.

Louise Marie Radic

There’s a supportive, non-judgemental group near you too – and they’re just waiting to share recipes, hints, tips and support you all the way to your target. Find your nearest Slimming World group here.

Gabrielle’s joy since joining Slimming World

I know this may seem a little early to be writing to you as I’ve only been a member since the 1st July, but I wanted to say thank you and let you know what a difference you’ve helped me to make already!

In my first week I was astonished to lose 13lbs, and last week I lost another 3lbs. I get weighed again tomorrow and for the first time in my life I’m EXCITED about being weighed!

I know I have a long way to go yet, but the inspiration I’ve already received, and the motivation I feel means that for the first time I really feel like I can do this.

I’m following the Extra Easy plan, and have not been hungry or limited in my choices or miserable about 'dieting'. I have been able to socialise and it must be said, for the first time in years am not obsessively thinking about food (from as soon as I wake up until I go to bed) like... when can I eat next, what can I have, what should I not have... etc. I feel liberated and positive and excited about my slimmer future ahead and I am enjoying getting there.

So thank you Slimming World, and Vanessa my Consultant and all my Slimming World family!

PS: I will write to you again when I get to my Club 10 and to my target... just to let you know that I did it – because I know I will!

Yours most joyfully,

Gabrielle J Reynolds

If you’d love to feel this way around food, take a look at our delicious 7-day Food Optimising menu – packed with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas to help you feel full and lose weight beautifully!

Stephen’s aiming for his topless target!

Even though I’ve tried to eat healthily, I’ve struggled with my weight for many years. I’ve had the ‘fat boy’ remarks at work and out with friends. I’ve avoided going on holiday abroad because I didn’t want to sit by the pool with my shirt off. And I’ve tried various online diets but didn’t stick to them.

So when I saw a Slimming World group was opening in my area, I went online to see what they were about and was intrigued by Food Optimising.  I persuaded my wife to come along with me for moral support and we both joined in June 2010.

In the five weeks since we joined my wife has lost 11lbs and I’ve lost 18½lbs and dropped one shirt size.  Food Optimising is so easy to follow you don’t even know you’re on a diet, and if you stick to it the pounds just fall off.

We have nine weeks to go before we go on holiday and we both hope to more than double our current weight loss before then, Brilliant!
Stephen Parker

It’s great to hear from you, Stephen. Did you know we have around 8,000 men attending our groups around the country – and, like you, the pounds just fall off! Read about some of our other amazing men in our real success section.

Goodbye dieting, hello Slimming World

I may not be the 'biggest loser,' in fact it's taken me nearly a year to lose 1½ stones. What most people don't know (and rarely believe!) is that I've been on a diet since I was 13. I am
now 30.

I've had a weight problem since I was seven. This was when I was first encouraged to leave dancing school because I “looked like a graceful elephant”. Over the next few years I was routinely told that I was “big boned” or “not sporty” – and with every sport I gave up on, I ballooned yet further. By the time I was eleven I took a ladies size 16.

I knew nothing about nutrition, and my family and school both encouraged me to fill my “healthy appetite.” The only advice I got was to stop eating sweets and fill up on savoury food, which I did with some vigour: buttered white rolls, cheese-burgers, pasties and pizzas... followed by cake to ‘keep me going’!

At thirteen I was a shy kid, who’d rather hide in the library than face the bullies! I got so fed up with this unhappy life that I started dieting. Because everyone told me diets were ‘bad’ and my appetite was ‘healthy’, I had to diet in secret, pretending not to like puddings and throwing my packed lunch to the birds. I went from a size 16 to a size 10 in a matter of months, but the price I paid was being constantly tired and having my stomach rumble through school lessons!

Over the following years my weight yo-yo'd almost constantly. I could get down to a size 10-12, but a few months later I would be a 16-18 again. Friends and family begged me to stop dieting and just accept that I'm ‘naturally big’. Doctors would tell me to ‘lose a few pounds’ as if it was the easiest thing in the world, and never believed that I was trying.

I had high blood pressure, at one point I became pre-diabetic, and I was constantly exhausted from punishing myself in high impact aerobics and kick-boxing sessions. I often turned up to work covered in mud from my morning walk. My clothes never fitted, and my terrifying mood swings were legendary. Work colleagues have witnessed me sobbing over a high-calorie pasty, and I've wobbled into meetings feeling drunk with exhaustion and low blood-sugar. My relationship with food deteriorated to the point that I felt like an addict: I hated food, but couldn't stop eating.

Eventually I got to a point where I'd tried everything. I had just been made redundant, I was at my heaviest, and I knew I was going to pile on even more weight while I was unemployed. My house-mate told me that she knew someone who went to Slimming World and had lost loads of weight, so I finally plucked up the courage to give it a try! Bear in mind, I had never been supported in my weight loss and firmly believed dieting was bad – I was physically shaking at my first session!

I cannot speak highly enough of the friendly atmosphere and constructive support I have received at Slimming World. My Consultants (Sarah Moore, then Shelley Lawrence) have always treated each member with respect, patience and courtesy. I really look forward to seeing the group each week. I've had a very wobbly weight loss journey, with my subconscious sabotaging me at every available opportunity! Image Therapy and the features in Slimming World magazine have helped me to understand this. The group are always there for me, telling me that I can do it and never judging me. 

I'm often surprised to discover that foods that were forbidden on previous diets are encouraged at Slimming World, while foods that I used to eat in large quantities actually have a Syn value. However, what I find most incredible is the range of food I can eat, including eating out. My friends and family have all remarked how healthy and happy I now seem, and my self-confidence has improved to the point that I wear dresses… in a colour other than black! Because of Slimming World, I can now share a meal with friends without bursting into tears or spending the next week guiltily punishing myself.

I cannot thank and praise Slimming World enough, and I sincerely hope you continue to help people take control of their lives.

With kindest regards,

Rebecca Margetts

If you’ve been inspired by Rebecca’s weight loss journey and you’d like to begin your own, there’s a friendly Consultant – who’s lost weight herself with Slimming World – just waiting to tell you all about our amazing eating plan. Enter your postcode and find your local Slimming World group today.