Mum’s the word for losing weight
And Nickie’s weight-loss has been topped by that of her mum Jo, who has shifted more than three stone. Her inspiration had actually been Nickie’s wedding three years ago.
“When I saw the pictures of me at that wedding I just thought I looked awful,” she says. “Then when my granddaughters came along I really wanted to do something about it - I didn’t want to be a fat granny.”
Married to 51-year-old plumber Nigel, 49-year-old Jo, a senior family worker in Birmingham, headed off to the group.
“I had done Slimming World before and I knew it worked for me,” she recalls. “But the problem is that once you stop going you can put it on again. You know it all and think you can do it on your own but without the weekly groups it is easy for it to come back.”
Jo’s weak point was bread so she cut back.
“I really like bread so I had to eat a lot less of it. Whenever I felt a bit hungry I would make toast or if I was in a cake shop I wouldn’t have a cake I would have a bun,” she says. “I did eat takeaways as well but toast was the worst thing for me.”
So to avoid those hunger pangs, Jo opted for planning her meals well in advance.
“By following the Slimming World plan I was able to make sure I knew what I was eating,” she says. “And once you have that plan you stick to it. Good habits can be set just as easily as bad habits. Once you have it, you stick to it.”
And Jo has stuck to it, dropping from 13st 7lb to 10st 7lb and feeling the benefits.
“I feel so much better and have so much more energy,” she says. “I am eating well and regularly so I don’t tend to do so much snacking.”
Having her daughter on call is a help.
“It was good us both doing it together,” says Jo. “It meant if you had any questions you could just call each other up. I am looking forward to her running the group and will definitely keep going. I think she will be really good at it, really inspirational because people know her and know she can do it.”
And with another family wedding coming up in the summer when Jo’s 24-year-old son Simon marries his girlfriend Kate Buckley in Cyprus, Jo is looking forward to seeing herself on those photos.
