{"id":1348,"date":"2020-03-06T11:44:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T11:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slimmingworld.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/?p=1348"},"modified":"2020-11-27T12:06:50","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T12:06:50","slug":"losing-weight-reignited-my-love-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/losing-weight-reignited-my-love-life\/","title":{"rendered":"“Losing weight reignited my love life”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Losing weight can help you to feel healthier, fitter and more confident \u2013 and it might even give your love life a boost!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before he joined Slimming World<\/a>, our Mr Sleek 2020, Aaron Snares<\/a>, had been single for five years and worried he\u2019d never have a family of his own. Read on to find out how he fell in love with Food Optimising<\/a>, and finally found that special someone… <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing at the bar, I watched my friends enjoying themselves on the dance floor. As they confidently chatted to girls, I badly wanted to be alongside them. But, as ever, my insecurities about my size pinned me to the sidelines. It wasn\u2019t the first time I\u2019d ended a night out alone, watching everyone else have more fun than me. At over 30st, I just didn\u2019t have the confidence to go up to girls like my mates did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aaron<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I can trace my lack of confidence back to my school days, when I was relentlessly teased about my size. I used to pretend to be sick and ask my mum to let me stay home from school so I could avoid hearing the hurtful comments that constantly came my way. Food became my comfort, creating a vicious cycle that saw me steadily put on more weight as I grew into adulthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my older sister, Kelly, told me she was getting married, I was made up for her and her fianc\u00e9, Chris. Still, a part of me felt a bit jealous \u2013 I longed to find love and start a family of my own, but with my weight creeping up further and further, I\u2019d started to think it would never happen for me. While my mates were going out and finding girlfriends, I convinced myself that no one would want to be with me at the size I was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My sister was every inch the beautiful bride, and I was so happy for her and Chris. Meanwhile, I was doing my best to hide how uncomfortable I felt the whole time. Months earlier, I\u2019d felt like I\u2019d let them down when I pulled out of being Chris\u2019 best man because I was too self-conscious to get up in front of all those people. Now I was glad I had. I spent the day avoiding the cameras where I could, and no one seemed to notice how miserable I was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aaron<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

That is, nobody except my nan, Julie. She\u2019d been watching from the table as I tucked in my shirt tails for the umpteenth time, and suggested we nipped outside for a bit. \u201cYou\u2019re not happy, are you, Aaron?\u201d she began. I shook my head as she put her hand on my arm. \u201cWeight is a big thing, it affects your health in all sorts of ways. You don\u2019t want to end up in my shoes, do you?\u201d Her voice trailed off, but we both knew what she meant. Five months earlier, Nan had been diagnosed with lung cancer, so she knew better than anyone how precious the gift of health is. \u201cI\u2019ll do it, Nan,\u201d I told her. \u201cI\u2019ll get healthy, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding support<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That first night standing outside my Slimming World group, I remember being too scared to even walk in. I gave myself a shake and stepped inside, where I got the warmest greeting I could ever have imagined from my Consultant, Georgina. Everyone was so kind and interested in me, it was completely unlike the way I\u2019d been treated at school, and there wasn\u2019t a hint of judgement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d always told myself that I didn\u2019t have time to cook, but I\u2019d promised to fully embrace the Food Optimising plan, so I decided to try making my meals from scratch. I was amazed that I could still enjoy my favourite takeaway-inspired meals by making low Syn fakeaways like katsu curry, sticky chicken, and Chinese pork and noodle stir-fry. I lost 8\u00bdlbs in my first week, and knew then that I\u2019d grasped it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aaron<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Only a month after I joined, Nan passed away. She\u2019d been like another parent to me and it felt like the end of my world. A couple of weeks earlier, I\u2019d got my 1st award and she was so proud of me when I walked into the hospital clutching my certificate. Knowing how much my weight loss meant to her gave me the strength to carry on through those dark days, as I got used to a world without her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going to group every week boosted my confidence, so I set up an Instagram account and started posting videos about my journey. I was surprised by how much encouragement I got and I quickly made friends with other slimmers around the country. After years of feeling nervous and self-conscious around people I didn\u2019t know, I was enjoying talking to new people and, to my surprise, I even suggested getting together for nights out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big surprise<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then, a few months later, something even more unexpected happened \u2013 I met someone! Lucy and I started chatting on Instagram and felt a connection straight away. She had lost 9st 9\u00bdlbs with Slimming World and understood everything I\u2019d been through. We started going on dates to the cinema and to concerts, and our relationship quickly turned into something deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day near Christmas, I woke up to find Lucy perched on the end of our bed holding a pregnancy test. She had sneaked down to the bathroom while I was asleep to take the test, and as she handed it to me, I could see two bold lines appear. \u201cAre you serious?\u201d I said. A big grin spread across her face and she nodded: \u201cI\u2019m pregnant!\u201d I couldn\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucy and I have just moved in together and, in just six months, we\u2019ll be welcoming our beautiful baby into the world. Losing 16st hasn\u2019t just made me healthier, fitter and more confident \u2013 it\u2019s giving me the family I\u2019ve always dreamed of!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aaron<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Aaron and Lucy on their exciting news \u2013 we can\u2019t wait to celebrate the arrival of their bundle of joy this summer! And all of this may never have happened if Aaron hadn\u2019t joined his local Slimming World group<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019d like to find out how losing weight could help transform your life, you\u2019ll find endless support in group<\/a> and on our vibrant online community<\/a>. And if you\u2019ve already made that amazing leap, we\u2019d love for you to let us know! Share your story with us<\/a> or show us your transformation on social using #theSlimmingWorldblog<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At over 30st, Aaron had all but given up hope of finding love. Now 16st 4lbs lighter, he\u2019s not only been crowned our Mr Sleek 2020 \u2013 he\u2019s boosted his confidence levels and social life, and met a very special someone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22,25,23],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}