Out of breath, but not for long, thanks to Slimming World.

I first decided to join Slimming World to lose weight after my mother was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease.  I always felt a bit self-conscious about my weight but never did anything about it.  Often I would ignore the way I felt and push the feeling to the back of my mind.  I would call to my parents’ house to visit and each time I climbed the stairs there, I found that I was out of breath.  I remember joking to my mum that I really needed to do something about my health.

I have always tried to disguise my weight with baggy clothes and layers.  I would pretend that I didn’t really care about my weight but inside I was cringing and trying to ignore how I really felt.  I would make excuses in order to miss some occasions out socialising or I would reluctantly go along only after buying baggy clothes which hid my frumpy bits.  I hated shopping only to think I was a certain size and the clothes wouldn’t fit when I got home.  It was really disheartening.  After having 2 children I had every excuse in the book about my weight, but if I was being honest, I was holding myself back.

In July 2014 I first joined the local Slimming World group.  I was apprehensive and nervous, worried about who I would meet and what people would think.  I quickly realised that I was not alone, at my first new member meeting, Jackie our consultant explained that we each had our own journey and working towards your own target weight was important for each of us as an individual.  I love the support and feeling like I belong no matter what kind of week I’ve had, there is no judgement, only support and understanding.  When I have a bad week, people will give suggestions to help going forward to the next week and when I have had a good week, other members are happy to congratulate me on my effort and continue to support me.

It took me a little while to understand Food Optimising but keeping track of each day with my food diary really helped me to stay on plan, besides the variety and amount of food I can eat is unbelievable.  I especially love that I can eat almost everything, I actually don’t have to give anything up, just change my eating habits to incorporate healthier eating.  I love how the slimming world plan is so generous, a friend once made a joke, saying that I was on a diet.  I quickly corrected her asking her ‘what do you eat, that I don’t?’.  Food optimising is not a diet, it’s a way of life, a healthier way of life and a new lifestyle.  People are more aware of the food that they are eating and how it is cooked.  They are moving away from processed foods, I love that the meals are full of fresh fruit and vegetables and we can still have our carbohydrates & plenty of protein so we don’t go hungry.  We even get to have a treat every day with our Syns and still loose weight at the end of the week – how amazing is that?  I enjoy growing my own fruit and vegetables and using fresh produce in Slimming World recipes brings everything together for me.  It is really satisfying.

At the start of my journey each week I shared my successes & stories with my mum and in just 7 weeks I had lost a stone, I was thrilled. I have lost 2 stone and I am so much happier and more confident.  We each have our own journey and target that we would like to reach, we just need to be honest and true to ourselves and give ourselves our best chance.

Emma is happy to share her slimming world success at her group each Wednesday & Saturday in Dooradoyle/Raheen.  For more information please contact Emma on 087-7712959.

Before & After Pics