Hollie has lost 6st 13lbs and is throwing her weight behind by donating clothes to charity and tackling London Marathon
A social worker from Hull, who has lost almost 7st (44kg) with Slimming World, is tackling the London Marathon and donating the clothes she’s slimmed out of all to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Before joining Slimming World, Hollie Oxtoby, 37, from Hull, had been unhappy with her weight for as long as she could remember. She reached her heaviest – weighing 18st 7lbs – after the final Covid-19 lockdown.
Hollie says: “During lockdown, there was so little to do that eating and drinking became ways to fill my time. I’d spend money on food without thinking of what it was doing to my bank balance or my body. Before I joined Slimming World, I’d drive everywhere and eat whatever I chose – it was easier to pay for a takeaway each Friday night rather than cook.
“I remember promising myself that when I hit a size 16, I would lose weight, but it never happened and when I joined Slimming World, I was wearing a size 22/24. Being overweight meant that I couldn’t move as freely as I wanted to or wear the clothes I liked in the shops. I always tried to dress nicely and take pride in my appearance no matter my size, but deep down I knew I wasn’t wearing the style of clothes I really wanted to wear and it affected my confidence.”
It was when Hollie’s friend Emma asked her if she wanted to join their local Slimming World group together that everything changed.
She says: “The first time I went to the group was daunting as I didn’t know what to expect. I’d tried Slimming World before but only ever online as I was always too scared to sit in a room and face the scales each week. I didn’t have anything to worry about though, my Consultant put me at ease straight away and I immediately knew I’d made a step in the right direction.”
Hollie has since lost 6st 13lbs (44kg) following Slimming World’s flexible healthy eating plan and is still able to enjoy her favourite meals like a roast dinner and lasagna.
She continues: “I was amazed with how much I was able to eat without feeling like I was on a diet or restricting my favourite foods. Being able to still make delicious meals like an Indian ‘fakeaway’ and lose weight has been a game-changer. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on the joy of food as I can still go out for dinner with my family or meet my friends for coffee dates and feel confident that I have the knowledge to keep up healthy habits.
Losing weight has given me the confidence to wear the clothes I would always look at in shops but never buy. It’s such a great feeling!
Alongside her weight loss success, Hollie has also increased her activity levels with Slimming World’s Body Magic physical activity support programme.
She says: “Before Slimming World I very rarely did exercise as I made the excuse that I didn’t have the time and I didn’t want to buy new sports clothes. Discovering the physical activity programme made me realise that I could make progress at my own pace with movement that I enjoy. After losing three and a half stone, I joined my local running club as they were supporting people who wanted to get into running at a steady rate by following the Couch to 5k programme. I soon realised I’d found an exercise that I loved and started to build my distance and stamina.”
As well as donating the clothes she has slimmed out of to Cancer Research UK as part of the Big Slimming World Clothes Throw, Hollie is aiming to increase awareness of how maintaining a healthy weight and staying active can improve people’s health and help reduce the risk of 13 different types of cancer, by taking on the 2025 London Marathon.
She says: “I’ll be running this year’s marathon as part of the Slimming World team and in aid of Cancer Research UK, a charity very close to my heart. My cousin was diagnosed with a form of blood cancer in 2023 at the age of 36. It affected his spine and he now uses a wheelchair. This is a very rare form of cancer in people under 40 and is not curable but seeing how far he has come is incredibly inspiring – he’s now at the point where he is able to have a car and finally have some independence. I want to do everything I can, like running the marathon and donating any clothes I no longer wear, to help such an important charity support families like mine.”
The Slimming World London Marathon team will be raising funds for Cancer Research UK, the Irish Cancer Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, Slimming World’s official charity partners.
Slimming World Consultant Claire Hoyle, who runs the group in Beverley that Hollie attends each week, says: “Hollie always brings enthusiasm and light to group each week. She never hesitates to get involved in discussions and is a great listener and cheerleader to her fellow members, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that she jumped at the chance to run the London Marathon and participate in the Big Slimming World Clothes Throw! She’s an inspiration to us all and we can’t wait to cheer her on in April!”
Slimming World has raised more than £25 million for Cancer Research UK’s life-saving research through a variety of campaigns including The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw and supporting the charity’s Race for Life event series.
Last year, Slimming World members, Consultants and head office staff raised £2.9m for Cancer Research UK through The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw by donating clothes they’d slimmed out of to the charity’s shops.