A West Lothian mum has hailed Slimming World for helping her to lose seven stone in the space of a year.
Nicola Ann, 39, from Bathgate was over 16 stone in April 2017 but exactly a year later, after some hard work and dedication, she managed to lose seven stone.
The mum of two said that she never realised that her weight was creeping up five years ago but only noticed that she was unhealthily overweight after seeing a photo of herself.
She decided to join Slimming World with four of her colleagues and that is where her journey to a healthier lifestyle began.
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On joining Slimming World she said: “Before I joined I knew I was overweight but didn't notice anything was wrong really.
“I suppose I knew I was not healthy but didn’t realise I was overweight until I saw a picture.
“You Just see yourself each day and don’t really see it when the weight builds up incrementally.
“But after seeing a picture of myself at 16 stone I realised it was not healthy for me as I am only a 5ft 2 woman.
“The motivation really came from wanting to change for health reasons rather than aesthetics.
“I decided to put a brave face on it and spoke to four of my work colleagues who agreed to go along to a Slimming World group in Bathgate.
“What I loved about it was that I could still have exciting food. Before I had tried various weight loss programmes but I felt restricted.
“Slimming World really felt like you could have flexibility and enjoy traditional foods such as chips, rice and pasta that you do not have access to on other plans.
“You get recipe ideas through the group as sometimes people can struggle with ideas for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
“The first week I lost six and a half pounds. I loved the group setting and the support that comes with it meant a lot to me and gave me the motivation to keep going.
“If you are doing well you get awarded and if you have a week where you are struggling then it is nice because you are not alone and people will rally around you.
“Relatively quickly I realised at my work that I could get up the stairs a lot easier which felt amazing.
“Even buying new clothes was a huge lift - although I only looked at this after I’d lost five stone.”
On average, Nicola lost just under two pounds a week in order to meet her target and also exercised five to six times a week.
She said she would attend regular boxercise classes with friends as well as walking groups organised by Slimming World in West Lothian.
The restaurant supervisor loved the programme so much that she started to run her own groups to try to help change other people’s lives through the Food Optimiser and Body Magic plans that are offered through the business.
Nicola says that what she loved most about the programme was that she was able to set a good example to her kids who followed in her footsteps with eating healthily and exercising.
She added: “What really drew me to it is that I could feed my family the same meals and promote healthy habits for them at the same time.
“It was amazing for me to promote healthier choices for my kids and it was exciting that they wanted the slimming world chips and would become involved in picking the veg that we would use for our dinner.
“The communication we developed together around food encouraged them to have their fruit and vegetables.
“They would see me having fruit for a snack and would want to follow suit.
“Some of our members struggle with making different meals for their family but with Slimming World we are able to make fakeaways like burgers and pizzas.”
Nicola now does Slimming World full time and stepped down from managing a restaurant to working part time as a supervisor.
She says the flexibility of the role was a huge draw as it allows her to maintain her work in hospitality as well as care for her children, aged 10 and 12.
“I have been involved with Slimming World for five years now and can do it alongside my job.
“There are people I know who are teachers that run night time groups and folk can do it part-time or full-time - it is really flexible.
“It is the best thing I have ever done and stepping through those doors was such an important step as it kicked off this amazing journey.
“I’m still on the journey, the support and help never stops, and I can safely say that I’d never have lost seven stone without the support form my family, the Slimming World group and my consultant.
“It was life changing. My health is so much better and I’m more active but most importantly feel like I’m setting a good example for my kids.”
People can find out more about groups in their area by visiting the Slimming World website here.
