Karen joined her local Slimming World group with her husband Martin in Oldbury, in August 2020. Together, this incredible couple have lost almost 15 stone, with Karen now 9st 6lb and Martin 12st 12lb; they have changed their lives for the better! Now, Karen has trained as a Consultant for Slimming World, the UK and Ireland鈥檚 largest group-based weight loss organisation, at their national training academy in Derbyshire. Members at the Brandhall group in Oldbury are getting ready to welcome Karen as their new Consultant when she takes over the group on Thursday, 17 July.
Before joining Slimming World, they had tried a variety of ways to lose weight but had always become tired of restricting what they ate. They thought they were destined to struggle with their weight for the rest of their life, however when joined Slimming World it was different. Karen said: 鈥淚 never felt like I was on a diet. The eating plan encouraged us to eat lots of tasty, filling foods like pasta, rice, potatoes and lean meat and fish. You are never hungry and so you don鈥檛 feel like you鈥檙e missing out.鈥
As many couples do, Karen and Martin became more comfortable in their relationship as it blossomed; going out for meals and ordering takeaways became a way of life. This resulted in them both gaining weight over the next 15 years. 鈥淏eing a nurse all my life, my uniform and role is so important to me and gradually going moving up the uniform sizes had become a way of hiding my increased weight gain. I realised back in 2020 that I could no longer fit into my size 16/18 uniform (and weighing in at 13 stone 6), I鈥檇 stopped looking at myself in the mirror as I didn鈥檛 like how I felt, so something had to be done. At this point Martin was a size 5XL and weighed in at 23 stone 5.鈥
Previously, Martin had lost 10 stone following an alternative weight loss plan, whilst Karen had also had success with weight loss elsewhere. However, both described the lack of mindset and lifestyle change, which in turn lead them both to regain what they had lost- as their habits had not been addressed. Following the positives they had heard from friends who had been losing weight with Slimming World, the pair decided to try this. Straight away, Karen and Martin felt welcomed by the group and although a little sceptical about whether the plan would work- they decided to give it a go.
Karen says: 鈥淲e both have varied diets and neither of us are 鈥榝ussy eaters鈥 so the range of foods on Slimming World is vast; finding recipes we could go for was not an issue and both of us discovered a new found love of cooking, taking it in turns to experiment with recipes, cooking our first every curry for example, from scratch. This was encouraged on a weekly basis through group where new ideas would be shared with the team, taster sessions would introduce new foods; periodically new recipe books would appear which we鈥檇 eagerly purchase and of course the magazine (cheaper in group) was a great source of inspiration and ideas. We could still enjoy food that might be deemed as 鈥渘aughty鈥 like burger and chips, Sunday lunch or a full English breakfast, we just needed to change how we prepared it. Martin, amazingly, was also not miserable on Slimming World as he was never hungry!鈥
The group session run by Consultants are a key element of Slimming World鈥檚 plan. This is the place for getting all your inspiration, motivation, and tips for the week ahead. However, one of the biggest things is learning about yourself as a slimmer. Addressing your habits and choices, so that you can embrace a new healthy lifestyle- one that will keep you slim for life. This was a gamechanger Karen and Martin, as this was the missing piece of the jigsaw from previous weight loss attempts. 鈥淕oing to group was essential and taking a seat on a weekly basis helped us no end. Group keeps you on track, it steers you when perhaps things haven鈥檛 quite gone to plan (without any judgment being served), sharing issues, looking for suggestions and giving your own advice/tips to others all plays an important part in how you develop your new relationship with food and those around you.鈥
Karen reached her dream personal target weight, losing 4 stone in her first 12 months with Slimming World and Martin lost an incredible 10 stone 7lb in 18 months. Both have maintained their weight loss this time around, adapted a positive and healthy relationship with food and embraced physical activity through Slimming World鈥檚 activity plan known as Body Magic. 鈥淥ver the first year we started with exercise- taking it very, very slowly at first with gentle walks daily after work, gradually building up the distance day by day. We then formed a walking group with like-minded members of the Slimming World group and still walk on a regular basis; 3-5 times per week now covering up to 5-6 miles on some evening sessions. Even on holiday we will walk anything up to 12 miles, something neither of us had ever done in our lives before! We were able to record our progress on our smart watches and then integrate this into the Slimming World App, resulting in us both getting our Body Magic Platinum Awards. We also participated in a 10k Cancer Research Walk in Birmingham.鈥
Karen has also seen a huge improvement in her own health, as a direct result of the weight loss. 鈥淢y medication for high blood pressure has now been halved but even more amazingly I was previously injecting growth hormone daily; but as a direct result of the weight loss, that has now been completely stopped, and I鈥檝e never felt better! I have gone from a size 16/18 (bordering 20) to a size 6 to 8 and Martin has gone from a 5XL to L. Our lives have changed totally, our focus is completely on healthy food, we don鈥檛 miss out, we eat well. We just make healthier choices, through Slimming World, eating out (planning in advance), picnics at National Trusts and parties with family.鈥
Martin has also eradicated his varicose eczema in both lower legs and avoided going on statins; both as a direct result of the weight loss.
Karen鈥檚 Slimming World group will be held at The Oak Tree Centre, Tame Road, B68 0JP, every Thursday at 5.30pm from 17th July. For more information or to join Karen鈥檚 group either pop along or call her on 07949 412512.