Women like youWomen like you

Sandra Miskimmin, 41,

and husband Patrick,

40, live in Northern

Ireland. They have

three children.

Getting breathless

going up the stairs

and struggling to get

off the sofa, at 39

I should have been

enjoying life. Instead

I just felt old.

I’d been a happy and confdent size 12.

I loved going to aerobics classes and had

always been athletic, until I fell pregnant in

2001. I started to suffer excruciating pain

in my pelvis. It was so bad, every step

would leave me screaming.

Unable to do anything, I spent the

next six months in bed piling on weight.

I had hoped that when Henry was born

I would be able to exercise again but,

still in agony, it was impossible.

Whereas before I could keep my

sweet tooth in check, now all I did was

get bigger – and the pain got worse.

I tried diets, but losing 1lb a week wasn’t

enough motivation for me.

By my late thirties, I was 14st and a size

16, stuck hobbling on crutches due to

pain. While my husband, Patrick, would

run around the park with the kids, I’d sit

on a bench and watch.

Then, in October 2013, a friend

suggested I try Slenderiiz – a programme

where you take homeopathic drops three

times a day, along with supplements, and

only eat from a list of approved foods.

In the frst month I lost almost a stone.

As the weeks passed, I no longer craved

sweets and, more importantly, with less

pressure on my joints, the pain was

disappearing too.

It’s hard to believe I’m down to 9st 9lb

and a size 8-10. Being able to run up the

stairs, or to sweep the kids into my arms,

is the best feeling in the world.

✱ slenderiiz-uk.com

It’s not all about losing weight… These women found that they gained some very special things!

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The diets that didn’tjust shift pounds

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‘Being pain-free is incrediBle!’

Jo Thomas, 40, lives in

East Sussex with her

partner Alan, 34, and

their two sons.

Most people get

expensive jewellery or

a trip of a lifetime for

their 40th, but not me

– I got a new body and

a new career!

I’ve yo-yo dieted

my way through

adulthood. Working in admin, I’d be the

one checking calorie counts one day and

living off cabbage soup the next.

When my son, Leo, was born in August

2010, my issues with food got even worse.

Suffering from post-natal depression,

I sought solace in overeating.

After recovering from the depression,

and having my second son, Ollie, in May

2012, I stood on the scales. As the dial

crept up, a gasp caught in my throat. I’d

put on 4st, taking me to 14st 1lb – huge

for my 5ft 5in frame. Desperate to ditch

my size 20 clothes for good, six weeks

after giving birth I joined Slimming World.

I cut back on snacking and followed their

Food Optimising programme, where you

eat all the healthy food you want but can

still indulge in treats – just not as often!

A year later, I’d lost almost 3st. Inspired

by how much my life had changed I

realised I wanted to do even more. So,

approaching my 40th, I quit my admin job

and bought a Slimming World franchise.

Now I have 180 members and earn £400

a week. And at 10st and a size 10, they can

see it is possible to slim. My forties are

already fabulous!

✱ slimmingworld.com

‘i wanted my fOrties tO Be faBulOus!’

diet BefOre: ✱ Breakfast cereal with sugar or a

bar of chocolate ✱ Lunch Ham and

cheese toastie, chocolate ✱ Dinner

curry or pie ✱ Snacks chocolate,

sweets, crisps

diet nOw:✱ Breakfast Porridge with

sunfower seeds ✱ Lunch Spinach

and mushroom omelette ✱ Dinner

Stir-fry or spaghetti bolognese with

lots of vegetables ✱ Snacks apple,

handful of cashew nuts

Lynette Culverwell, 33,

lives with her husband

Daniel, 35, and their son

Toby, four, in Suffolk.

My wedding last year

was the best day of my

life. Everything from my

dress to the hours spent

twirling on the dance

foor was perfect – and

nothing like I’d imagined.

Growing up, my love

of pizza and cake, meant that by the time

I was 16, I was a size 18.

When I met Daniel two years later,

he seemed to like my curves! But after

moving in together, nights spent curled up

on the sofa with a takeaway gradually led

to those curves giving way to fat.

By the time our son Toby was born in

2010, I was 18st 7lb and a size 24. Daniel and

I had talked about marriage, but the idea of

walking down the aisle with all eyes on me

– and my fabby arms – made me cringe.

‘If we ever get married, it will have to be

just us there,’ I’d tell him. ‘And no photos.’

My weight ruled everything.

Then, in June 2013, I realised I had to do

something. Toby would be starting school

the following year and I couldn’t be the

embarrassing fat mum at the school gates.

So I started researching and found Kick Start

Fat Loss, a diet and exercise club, and signed up.

I’d go along to a class each week and

started the food plan. The frst part –

a detox cleanse where you ditch sugar –

wasn’t easy! But within a week I had more

energy and I’d lost 9lb. As the weight fell off,

I found a confdence I’d never had.

That’s why, when Daniel proposed on

Valentine’s Day 2014, I didn’t hesitate.

Having already lost 5st, instead of the low-key

event I’d envisaged, when we married that

July the church was full of friends and family.

Now, at 11st 7lb and a size 14, I know I’ll

never have to sacrifce being happy because

of my weight again.

✱ kickstartfatloss.net

‘i gOt a valentine’s day prOpOsal!’

diet BefOre: ✱ Breakfast toast with butter or bacon,

eggs and sausage ✱ Lunch chicken

mayonnaise sandwich and crisps ✱

Dinner Sausage and mash, with bread

and butter ✱ Snacks chocolate, cake

diet nOw:✱ Breakfast mushroom omelette or fruit

smoothie ✱ Lunch butternut squash

soup ✱ Dinner chicken or fsh with

salad ✱ Snacks none

diet BefOre: ✱ Breakfast toast and butter ✱ Lunch

Pizza and salad ✱ Dinner toad-in-the-

hole ✱ Snacks biscuits, cake

diet nOw:✱ Breakfast Ryvita and a boiled egg

✱ Lunch Homemade soup ✱ Dinner

chicken with sweet potato wedges

and green beans ✱ Snacks carrot

sticks, houmous and a little chocolate

BefOre

37woMANmagazine.cO.uK36 woMANmagazine.cO.uK

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93WMN15005182.pgs 09.01.2015 13:25 BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN