Sticking to your slimming guns can be hard, especially as January rolls into February when it feels like the world is falling off the weight loss wagon. If you feel your slimming motivation waning, we’re here to help! At your local Slimming World group – or in our online Community – you’ll find endless encouragement, inspirational recipe ideas, and tools to get you through tricky times and help you rediscover your slimming mojo. Here’s how Cassie broke her cycle of yo-yo dieting, and discovered that incredible ‘Slimming World feeling’ of weight loss that lasts.
Walking into the community hall, I wasn’t holding out much hope. I’d gone there to join Slimming World, but having already tried every diet under the sun, I’d resigned myself to thinking I’d never lose weight. As the Consultant, Nikki, talked me through Food Optimising, I began to relax. She seemed so sure that I could do it, and I slowly started to believe that maybe she was right.
Stuck in a cycle
I’d been dieting on and off for over a decade, always turning to the latest fad diet. Although I’d manage to lose a few pounds, I’d feel ravenous after only a meal-replacement shake for lunch. So I’d quickly go back to having chicken and mayo sandwiches and a bag of crisps, followed by a dinner of pasta made with a jar of sauce. Of course, the pounds soon went back on.
As my weight crept up, my health was increasingly affected too. I have fibromyalgia, a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body, and, while not weight-related, my size put extra pressure on my joints, intensifying the crippling pain in my back and knees.
When my daughter, Darcie, was born in 2017, I weighed over 14st and I struggled to do all the things I wanted to do as her mum. Just getting up and down off the floor left me shattered, and I felt so self conscious about my increasing size that I avoided being in any photos with her. As the months passed, I couldn’t stop myself from worrying that Darcie was going to grow up with an unhealthy and unhappy mum.
The final straw came on a family holiday to Great Yarmouth. I really struggled to keep up, wincing in pain as my partner, Richard, carried Darcie across the beachfront ahead of me. Sitting in our hotel room that evening, scrolling through the photos on my phone, I saw a picture of me carrying Darcie as we walked around an aquarium, and my heart sank. I looked even bigger than I’d imagined. Something clicked in my mind. I had to lose weight and improve my health, not just for myself, but for my daughter too.
New year, new start
Still, it was a few more months before I plucked up the courage to join Slimming World. I was worried that the other members would stare at me or that I’d be the biggest person in the room. Like many people, though, the New Year got me thinking about making a fresh start, so when my friend mentioned she was joining Slimming World at the end of January, I took the plunge and told her I’d go along to group too.
As Nikki explained how the plan worked, I noticed that all the members around me were chatting and laughing, and I began to relax. Everyone was there for the same reason, so I had nothing to worry about. After a week of satisfying my appetite with filling meals like pizza-topped chicken, I’d lost 5½lbs! I began to believe that it could work for me and I threw myself into Food Optimising. I started having baked oats or a cooked breakfast in the morning, followed by an omelette with salad and beans for lunch, and anything from chicken chow mein to tuna pasta bake for dinner.
A month into my journey, I had my first week where I didn’t lose any weight, and I couldn’t understand why. Previously, this would’ve been the point where my New Year motivation started to wane, but this time I kept confidence in the plan. Instead of beating myself up about a setback and quitting, like I had with previous diets, I turned to Nikki and the other group members to help me realise where I might have gone off track. I left group feeling fully motivated with lots of new recipes to try, and when I came back the next week I’d lost 2½lbs. I was back on it!
Making memories together
Slimming World helped me to change my mindset towards weight loss completely, and I was seeing results away from the scales too. I no longer felt exhausted at the end of each day and, while I’d still experience flare-ups of fibromyalgia, the pain was much more manageable. Now that I had the energy to be active, I loved joining in with any activity Darcie wanted to try. Watching her laughing and smiling as we splashed around in the pool on holiday last year, I finally felt I was the best mum I could be.
After years of yo-yo dieting, I’ve been at my target weight of 9st 5½lbs for nearly a year now, and I still go to group each week to help me stay motivated. The best thing about losing 5st is the effect it’s had on my life as a mum. I took Darcie, now two, to a soft play area recently, running around and whizzing down slides with her, and I absolutely loved it. I’ve found a way of eating that I know will help me stay slim for life, and I’m going to make the most of it.
What a fantastic transformation! By fully embracing Food Optimising, Cassie has transformed her slimming mindset and found healthy habits that last a lifetime. If there’s a slimming setback you’re struggling with, we’re here to help you power past it. Like Cassie, you’ll find yourself surrounded by support at your local Slimming World group – or in our friendly online Community. That unbeatable ‘Slimming World feeling’ is just a click away.