{"id":3792,"date":"2022-05-04T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slimmingworld.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/?p=3792"},"modified":"2022-05-19T13:16:47","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T12:16:47","slug":"inspire-jamie-woodend-4st-weight-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/inspire-jamie-woodend-4st-weight-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI thought I was too young to have a stroke\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every five minutes, someone in the UK suffers a stroke. It\u2019s the fourth biggest killer and being overweight is one of the most significant risk factors.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is that there are simple things we can all do to reduce our stroke risk, and we\u2019re sharing our five expert health tips to help.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, though, we\u2019d like to share the inspiring story of Jamie Woodend, 30, who lost 4st 1lb after a stroke scare motivated him to turn his health around…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you\u2019d love to lose weight, you can find out more about joining Slimming World here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting at my desk in the call centre, I felt worse for wear. At first I thought I was coming down with the flu, then I began to sense that something was very wrong. I had a strange sensation running down my left side, and I quickly ended a call with a customer so I could take a breather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to work in a hospital, so I knew what the signs were pointing to. In my head, though, I thought: \u201cI\u2019m too young to have a stroke, aren\u2019t I?\u201d My workmate noticed I wasn\u2019t looking good and insisted that I go to the doctor. The doctor took one look at me and called an ambulance to take me to hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, I suffered no lasting effects and left hospital after five days, but the experience left me feeling increasingly concerned about my health. I have cerebral palsy, a group of conditions that affect movement and balance, and I\u2019d been told for years that maintaining a healthy weight could help me manage my symptoms. But at 27, I thought I had plenty of time to get my health back on track before I had to worry about serious illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew I had to do something about my weight\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then, in October 2018, I sat on the bed after getting out of the shower and heard a loud crack. The bed had broken under my weight. A few days later, I told a friend what had happened and admitted that I was getting worried about my weight. \u201cI\u2019d like to lose a few pounds, too,\u201d she said. \u201cLet\u2019s join Slimming World together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d actually joined a group once before and lost a few pounds. It was a half-hearted attempt, though \u2013 I didn\u2019t stay for IMAGE Therapy and soon went back to my usual takeaway burgers for dinner. This time I knew something needed to be done, and I decided to give it a proper go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was heaviest I\u2019d ever been\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I walked through the doors of Sally Dale\u2019s group in Darlington, I immediately felt at home. Everyone was in it together \u2013 sharing ideas and strategies, celebrating the wins and having a laugh along the way! Listening to other people working through their plans, high points or struggles got me thinking differently too \u2013 it helped me put things into perspective and stay focused one week at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had been years since I\u2019d last weighed myself, so when Sally led me over to privately step on the scales, I had no idea what to expect. I saw the number flash up on the screen and was too shocked to speak. I was 17st 10lbs \u2013 the heaviest I\u2019d ever been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although knowing how much weight I had to lose knocked my confidence a bit, I went home from group that week determined to give it my all. Armed with my new Food Optimising knowledge, I swapped my takeaways for home-made dinners like burger in a bowl<\/a>, jacket potato with tuna and sweetcorn<\/a> and cheeseburger pasta<\/a>. And I never felt hungry once!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the same, when I went back to group the following week, I couldn\u2019t help doubting whether it was really going to work. Then I found out I\u2019d lost 5lbs! I got a great round of applause and felt a rush of excitement as I realised I could actually do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cSnacking was my biggest challenge\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sally invited me to share what had gone well that week, and then asked if there was anything I\u2019d struggled with. \u201cI think my biggest challenge is snacking at work,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m always being offered chocolates, biscuits and crisps, and sometimes it\u2019s hard to say no.\u201d Sally encouraged me to find Free Food alternatives that I\u2019d be happy to swap to, and the other members gave me some great ideas to try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was great to realise losing weight didn\u2019t have to mean missing out. I could still enjoy a snack at work \u2013 Slimming World just helped me make different choices. By going to group each week, and learning more about myself as a slimmer, all the preconceptions I had about losing weight began to fall away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MORE ON THE BLOG: Want to beat the snack attacks? Here\u2019s how we can help<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRediscovering my love of swimming\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the pounds came off, I was able to move around more without feeling out of breath and my balance improved. I\u2019d heard the other members talking about activities they enjoyed doing and watched them picking up their Body Magic awards<\/a> in group \u2013 and I decided I wanted some of that for myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beauty of Body Magic was that I could choose any activity that I wanted. I\u2019d had a gym membership for years, but I always found a reason not to go. Now felt like the perfect time to put it to good use, by making the most of the swimming pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I changed my route home from work so that I had to walk past the gym, and I packed my swimming kit so that I had no excuse not to go. Although I felt a bit self conscious when I first got into the pool, I quickly realised no one was paying me any attention and I really enjoyed that first swim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MORE ON THE BLOG: Discover how to break through your exercise barriers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I\u2019m at my target weight of 13st 8lbs, and it\u2019s a great feeling to know that I\u2019m doing the best thing to keep my heart healthy by eating well and exercising. And now I\u2019m back in my real-life group, with Sally and the other members there to support me every week, I\u2019m confident that I\u2019ll never go back to where I was three years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel fitter and more energetic than I have in years \u2013 and I\u2019ve even found the confidence to sign up to a dating app. Although it\u2019s been hard to meet up with people over the last 18 months, I\u2019m enjoying getting out there and fingers crossed I\u2019ll meet a special man soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, but it had a silver lining because it motivated me to lose weight. And I\u2019m so glad it did!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MORE FOR MEMBERS: Find out how Food Optimising can help your heart health<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 tips to help cut your stroke risk<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"five<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You can find out more about joining Slimming World here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A frightening health scare spurred Jamie Woodend to lose more than 4st. Find out how to spot the signs of stroke \u2013 and how you can cut your risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22,25,23,19],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3792"}],"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=3792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}