From Self-Sabotage to Self-Care: Jane's Incredible Story

Hello everybody and welcome. It's, um, it's absolutely a pleasure to have the lovely Jane Foster with us today. And, um, you know, I just, um, it's, it's very special because it's obviously— we did Ellie last week. Jane is another one, another one of the special people that made it into, um, one of the 23 that made it into my book for reasons other than weight loss, actually. It's— Jane's got a story that so many people will relate to, and she was— she's gone from feeling totally out of control to her food and her health. Actually, your health was such a big, terrible— in such a terrible mess— to transforming her mindset, habits, and your life, actually. You, the medication staff and everything. It's so exciting. And you know, it just— it— for me, this is what makes my heart sing. It's why I do what I do. When I see— when I hear stories, see Jane and, and the transformation that's, that's happened, it really— it's why I do what I do and why I've been doing it for 15 years. But Jane, let's start at at the beginning. Can you just take us— we're just gonna— I'm gonna transport you back in time to just before you found SlimPod and what daily life was like for you. I mean, you've spoken really, really honestly about how food felt like a punishment rather than nourishment. And so for anybody who doesn't know Jane, actually, Jane, I think the best thing for you to do just in a minute before we get— yes, indeed, I'm minute— before, before we get stuck in is for you just to give a very potted version of your health problems and the size you were and where you are now.

Okay, was size 24, had fatty liver, diabetes type 2, uh, my blood pressure was much higher, uh, I had some steroids because I have an autoimmune illness, hasn't gone away but the steroids have gone away. Unfortunately, mine doesn't seem to be going away like other people's does. But yeah, I was a size 24, now I'm a size 16. I don't have diabetes anymore. My blood sugar is completely normal, not even pre-diabetic anymore. I spent years previously being pre-diabetic and getting nagged at, and then I went into diabetic for a year, and now I'm completely back over. My liver is completely healthy again, so that is all down to SlimPod. And yeah, how much weight have you lost? Just, just as a sideshow, 6 stone about, because I haven't actually weighed myself for about 6 months, even for medical reasons. So I don't know.

How long have you been on the program?

2 years, nearly, about a couple months off 2 years.

Right, look at that, that's just stunning. It's just the healthy, healthy stuff that I just love. So amazing. So look, now I'm gonna get you to start at the beginning. You've spoken really honestly, you know, in the past, as I said, about using food as a bit of a self-punishment tool. Um, just share what was going on beneath the surface at that time.

I felt very unworthy. Uh, I had such a low self-esteem. I just felt so rubbish. I was rubbish. I wasn't in control of anything. I couldn't handle anything. I've got awful bad— and I still cry at all the time. If something angers me, I cry. But I saw that was really, really bad before. Now I just don't think it's bad, but if anything upset me, I would just think I wasn't worth it. And I don't— I did punish myself very badly with food because I wasn't worth it. And food was definitely a way of self-abuse for me. I, you know, that was my way— food and drink, too much alcohol, too much food. And I felt, you know, definitely a form of punishment. I punished myself by eating. I wasn't worthy. Nobody loved me. I wasn't lovable. I was such a horrible person. I'm beginning to feel all this, so I haven't brought any tissues, but never mind. But no, I really— I didn't feel like I was a good person at all, and I didn't have anybody who cared for me and things, which really isn't true. But at the time that's what I felt. So I would sit in the car park and have whatever cake, have a pack of cakes or a Victoria sandwich or chocolate bars. Oh gosh, the food I used to eat! I must have had regularly 5 or 6 chocolate bars a day. I used to shove food down, it was horrible, the food I ate. Yeah, in the summer I'd have like 3 Magnums in one day. I know, I haven't had one for ages. It would be 18 months since I've had one. I just don't fancy one. They're not very nice anymore. They've got chocolate and I don't like chocolate. What?

Yeah, yeah. At the time, uh, at the time, did you— was it that you felt stuck? What was, what was going on in your head? I mean, you'd got to a certain size, hadn't you? And did you feel stuck?

Yeah, and I think part of it, every time I got ill, and I've had periods of illness in my life, and I had a car accident and was disabled for about 9 years, every time I got ill I got fat. I'd lose the weight by dieting and I wouldn't be able to keep it off, and then I'd get ill again and the weight would go back on. And I really got to the biggest— I think I was about 19 stone when I started SlimPod. I'm only 5 foot 2, so it's quite big. And I just, I just, and because I've got this illness and in and out of hospital and things, I didn't think I was ever going to get better. It was always going to be with me. I've been ill for ages and things, and I didn't honestly believe I could get better, and I just was not worth being here anymore didn't matter, you know. I've got no reason to try because it was never going to get better. So I was still food down my face because it wasn't worth not stuffing food down my face.

Yeah, yeah, I, I can get that. Bless you. Honestly. Um, and at that time, um, Did you think that change was even possible?

No, not at all. No, because I couldn't do things. I couldn't go for a walk. You have to have exercise to lose weight and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't walk. So there was no point even trying. I was never going to get better because I couldn't do anything. Everything hurt. I couldn't do anything, so I just really was— I don't— I was at the end and there was no, no point, unfortunately. That's how I felt anyway. It was just— I wasn't— it's just not worth bothering anymore because I wasn't going to get better and nothing was going to change.

Yeah, I can, I can, I, I see that. I see that an awful lot. Um, uh, you know, I've seen that in the last 15 years. I just want to point out to everybody watching that and listening, um, that we will have a Q&A right at the end, um, the last probably 20 minutes, 25 minutes. Um, and so, uh, yes, you will be able to ask Jane questions. Just wanted to throw that out there because I didn't mention it at the start. Normally I do. So the turning point, you— I mean, were you looking to change something? How, how did you come across us?

Facebook. And the funniest thing was I kept trying to diet and not eat, you know.

And I'd say, I like that. Yeah, I kept on trying to diet and not eat.

Yeah, it doesn't actually— I mean, it's just stupid when you think about it because I eat, I eat really well now. But I kept trying to eat, not eat, and it'd get like— and I always said, I'll start Monday. Something would happen, I'd get upset. I'd go to the hospital or go to the doctors and I'd get upset, or I would argue with somebody or something or other, and I would go back to punish myself with food, and it'd always be, I'll start again Monday, and then by Wednesday something would happen, and I'd literally gave up. I just said it wasn't worth it. And about, probably about a month after doing that and just completely like just carry on, no more Mondays, you appeared on Facebook feed, and you're the only thing I've ever bought off a Facebook feed. That's amazing. I thought, you can't scam me, there's no money in my bank account, you can only have what I've got there. Did you hear some horror stories about Facebook?

I do see that so often about scamming and all the rest of it. And you know, if people just looked at Trustpilot and all over the place, they can see we're not a scam. It's been going for 15 years anyway. Not to worry.

I never looked at anything. I just thought, that looks different, I am going to do it. And now, now I just say SlimPod, you know, if anybody's watching, you know.

So you, you were, you were really skeptical at first? Yeah, because you were, you know, where, where you were, um, which was in such a bad place, um, and, uh, and being stuck. And, and actually, I've just seen a question, uh, which I'm going to deal with now because it's so relevant. Um, the question says, how did you get unstuck? Well, you found SlimPod and that unstuck you, I think.

So I started listening to SlimPod and everything changed. It was just listening to the pods and Within a few days, it wasn't straight away, but I do have a, I think some Scottish or something, sorry, no Scottish people, but I do have a thing, if you pay for it, you're not going to waste your money. That didn't work before because I used to be in the plumbing world and that didn't help either. So, but no, I thought after a few days, I thought I'm going to do it. If I'm going to do this, I've got to put the effort in. I said, as much as I love the pods, I'm going to use your analogy, I am the captain of my own ship. And I suddenly thought that, or something very similar, about a week or two after stopping hearing SlimPods. I thought, I am in charge of me. And I didn't feel like that before, right? And that's— Simpa did that for me. I'm in control. I can do me. It's a choice I'm making. And I made it. I made the choices to sort of start making changes and haven't looked back since.

Amazing. And actually, as we, as we'll, um, go into, you've kind of taken that to a to a new level, um, on, on the whole making changes. And, and we will go into that in a minute because it's not just the SlimPod, uh, as much as, you know, as much credit as we'll give that, you have done so much. So you've taken it to a different level, um, which is why I love you, because you just, you've just got the tool and you are absolutely embracing it and making the most of it. And that's why you're in my book. So, you know, you just explain a little bit then about, you know, the mindset shift from, from where you were to, to the subconscious change then that happened. Because, you know, you've told me that changes started little by little. Just explain a little bit about that.

I started— when you got a lot of the videos, I found really helpful. Although, you know, I'm a very intelligent person, got a master's degree, I know how to eat, so I should be doing it. But when watching your videos, I decided I was going to follow what you said, and I actually said that, you know, There's a comment somebody made a very long time ago on Slimpod that they're on about not having avocado, and I said, well, whatever Sandra says, I do. So Sandra says we need to eat avocado, spinach, and broccoli. I'm gonna eat avocado, spinach, and broccoli. And that person said I wasn't doing Slimpod right, but I'm not sure that's right. But no, whatever you said in those videos, I thought, because you've got it, you know, eat less, move more, choose better. How do I choose better was what I looked into.

Right, that's interesting.

I knew I needed to move more, you know, eat less, that was simple. 'Well, how do I choose better?' And that's what got me into all the research. Yeah. And I think, you know, sort of, it's week 5 when Dale Penick comes into, into it, isn't it? And that, and where it's really got me thinking about the ultra-processed food. Yeah. And that's, you know, at that point it really got me because I could see, you know, and it's sort of like eating non-processed food wasn't putting rubbish in my body. And that's, you know, because I've got an autoimmune illness. Yeah, that's everything I've read so far says that's made worse by ultra-processed food. We don't know what's in it.

No. So, so basically, week 5, and this is, folks, this is, this is the bit now that is quite extraordinary and the life-changing bit, to be honest. I mean, all of it has been life-changing over the last 2 years, but this is the bit where, um, if anybody has heard me talking about growth mindset and and the whole Carol Dweck thing, there is a video about that in the program, then Jane is absolutely the, now, the master of her own life, without a doubt, on the food side. So you watch the videos and your interest was starting to be Um, you know, you, you started to think, um, what did you get a master's in, by the way?

Oh, ergonomics. It's nothing to do with Study at Man at Work. I've been down coal mines. I've been loads down loads of coal mines. Well, yeah, but I was, you know, I class myself as a really intelligent, you know, a clever person. I'm, you know, I've got the brain. I just didn't use it.

Yeah, well, you weren't using it on this, on, on the food front.

On the food front, no.

Until, until You then started really investigating the whole ultra-processed food side of things. You started looking into how food— what food to eat to actually help the illnesses that you had. And you started eating plant-based foods, didn't you?

Yeah.

And, and this is really where, where the whole health thing has just— is just— honestly, you have healed yourself of all of those things, that all of those illnesses, you have healed yourself. So explain to people, uh, because this is, this is also about becoming unstuck, when you actually can see a route forward. And, and week 5 was your route forward.

Yeah, just because it was a choose better. How do you choose better? Because we've had the conversation before, because being Weight Watchers and Slimming World, choosing better meant you could have a packet of crisps, a chocolate bar with their logo on it, And that was choosing better. But that isn't choosing better because all the way through there, you know, for years and years, I was pre-diabetic and then diabetic. So it wasn't choosing better, but you believe that, you know, oh, I'll have— I can have one of those, that's so many Syns or so many points, I can have that. But it's the chemicals it puts in your body that was making me ill. So I couldn't get better. You know, even to the fact, like, I had fat, you know, sweeteners instead of sugar, but reading that's actually just as bad for diabetes as it is not, you know, having sugar. So I could have had 1 spoon of sugar rather than 5 sweeteners, and I wouldn't put the chemicals in my body from this, from the sweeteners, because the chemicals from the sweeteners are probably a lot worse than the sugar.

So how did it start? Because you, um, you look— you were there in week 5. Um, how did it start? What did you start doing? Because you started cooking, didn't you? Because now you, now you are a crazy cook.

Yes, make me sarka today. We've had me sarka tonight, absolutely gorgeous, cooked from scratch. And is that what I mean, talking about the plant food? I buy the portion of lamb mince, I would have made one meal for two. I now make six meals because I put so much vegetables in it. It's just full of veg. So it saves me money as well because the food is just full of veg. I do put some mince in it because I think my husband would kill me if it hadn't got mince in it. But yeah, it's— I don't use as much meat. I use a lot less meat. I still do eat meat, still do eat red meat, and I know some people think that's not so good for you, but I do like red meat, so I do eat red meat. But yeah, portion sizes have reduced significantly as well. But what I put in it is, you know, just bulk it out with so many vegetables. I have meat and 10 veg rather than meat and 2 veg now.

And so, uh, you know, you were— this whole thing fascinates me, um, as you probably gathered, everybody. Um, it just does. It's just, it's just wonderful. Um, the— I mean, that you didn't start putting 10 vegetables in. How was that? How was that process? You started Googling, didn't you?

Yeah, I just, I Googled loads, uh, what could do this for blood pressure, what could do this you know, IBS. But then IBS is a weird one because I'm not supposed to be able to have fiber and stuff, but I have so much fiber it's untrue. But my IBS has virtually gone, you know, and I honestly believe it's because I don't have the rubbish. I do eat— well, I'm gonna say before I change that word, I don't have ultra-processed food. I only have most of the time, I only have things I can find in my cupboard and I can buy myself in a shop. I don't have the chemicals, you know, because for a long time, you know, I used to think I was gluten intolerant and things and lactose intolerant. And like, you know, our body's not designed to drink cow's milk, you know, years ago. You know, we didn't drink cow's milk. Drinking cow's milk is quite a modern phenomenon. Our body's not designed for the lactose in cow's milk. So I knew that, you know, sort of like thinking I was, you know, put me off the cow's milk and things. And our body isn't designed to have the chemicals that we now put into it. And that, I think that is why I've suffered so much You know, they're trying to get my gut health better and things.

So, uh, you were on steroids big time as well, weren't you?

Yes.

Yeah, you're off them?

We've come off now. Uh, I think I'm slightly worse health-wise, but it's not affecting me, right? I'm not giving up to it.

I—

it's a choice. You know, so, uh, but yeah, I'm off the steroids, but I do take an immune suppressant, which I wished I didn't, uh, but it's— that'd be a long time, I think, because it's hard to come off them once you're on them.

Yeah, I mean, this is only 2 years. You were so long on this, on, on, you know, you were so long being ill. And this is only 2 years, and it's just, just quite extraordinary. So you've kind of gone from eating Victoria sponges in the car park—

yeah—

to now eating 60 plants a day in 2 years. A week.

A week.

A week.

A week. I'm not that good.

Not, not a day.

The halo is not so good because a day would be a bit mad. Perhaps 20 a day or something like that. I could get, you know, but yes, I mean, but they do include different nuts. Like, I can't tell you what everything does because I eat what I eat now and it's all gone. But I like, I'll put like macadamia nuts, pecans, you know, walnuts, Brazil nuts and things, only like a little bit of each because, you know, Having too much wouldn't be good for you anyway. What—

Jane is frozen. Sorry to, um, let's hope that she unfreezes.

I'm here, I'm back.

Brilliant.

What happened?

We've got a frozen one and I was starting to panic then. Thank goodness, thank goodness you're here again. Amazing, got you back. Brilliant. That was, that was a moment of—

So I, I don't— I, I limit things like bacon and, you know, I used to have a bacon sandwich every morning, uh, and now I probably eat bacon once a month. You know, and things. But I try and eat most of the time, I use like the Nova scale because from, I read about in Ultra-Processed People and I was already doing it before I read the book. Reading the book has been quite a recent thing. I've sort of said, you know, but I try and stick to mainly ones which like fresh fruit and veg and you know, and then sort of the things like, you know, it goes down the scales and things like condiments and cheese and things are 3. So I try and sort of keep to the 1, 2, and 3 section, don't go into the last section virtually at all. But, you know, if I go out, I will, I'll eat what I want and don't worry about it, but That's your new, that's your new life now, isn't it?

You know, the thing is, the thing that I love, you, you know, you four, you say the biggest thing that you've gained isn't weight loss, it's control, you know. And so what does that mean to you? What What does control mean to you?

Well, because I'm so much more confident now. I'm doing this. I'm on here talking about everything. I don't know how many people are here, but I'm on here talking about this in front of everybody. And this is good. I don't mean— but I saw my— I didn't realize, I must have missed the memo about the pod. I didn't realize, and when people were saying there's some podcast, I clicked on the button and realized I was there. And then I watched it, didn't like my voice. My voice is horrible when you hear your voice coming the other way. Didn't like my voice, but didn't bother me. And then I was talking about going to the toilet, and I thought, if this helps people, I don't mind. And I didn't mind at all. But I think 2 years ago I would have hid in a dark corner and thought, oh my, I can't face the world. But it doesn't bother me, and I'm really happy to have done it and have it there, because if I can get one person who is anything like I was thinking about not eating processed food because it doesn't help their illnesses, because some people don't have the same illnesses, and I don't think it bothers everybody. No, you know, some people's bodies may put up with it. Yeah, but my body's full of— always been full of allergies and, and things. So, you know, some people may get away and not be ill because they're eating processed food. Yeah, but I like— that's how I felt, you know, when I saw the pod. But I wouldn't have been able to do that. So my biggest one is confidence. Because I can deal with anything, like anything now. And it's— everything's a choice. Yeah, if I, you know, I have a choice what I do, and I didn't have a choice, you know. It's that— if that statement in the Sugar Pod, 'If you can do this, you can do anything,' is my—

that's what your mantra Yes, that's me.

I can do whatever I can. If I can drink my tea without 5 sweeteners, and I can do anything.

That's amazing. So for those, for those watching right now who, who are feeling, um, that they're kind of stuck and, um, they'll never give, they'll never, you know, get to where they want to be, what would you say to them?

You can, because I've said to you before that I thought I couldn't cook. I hadn't got time. I've got a busy life as well as being ill, so I didn't have time to cook, didn't have time to exercise, wasn't able to exercise because I was too ill to exercise, hurt too much. And then Fanny SlimPod I walked up and down the road. That was too much, but I did it. And then a few weeks later, well, 18 months later, I ran 5K. I can't at the minute run 5K, but I will be running 5K again. But I go out for a walk each day and do what I can. But you just put one foot in front of the other, go to slight sleep more than is comfortable. You know, that's how I, how I've done it, you know, just slightly more than comfortable. And like Asper, you know, I can cope, I want to cope. And you know, there's so many people with busy lives, but I found time in my busy life. I have to reorganize my life. I'm really lucky that I'm self-employed, so I give myself time to cook the meal and then maybe go back up to work and then come home and eat the meal, you know. So that does— it works better for me. But I found time and things, yeah, to do it. I never, you know, I kept saying I can't do it, I can't do it, you know, putting all the excuses.

It is, it is about putting yourself, you know, fairly to the top of your to-do list, to be honest, because it is— it's hugely important. Um, and, uh, so yeah, it's— if— I mean, you were in that place that you never thought you would get out of, um, and by week 5 you were taking back control, which, which is incidentally part of the title of my book. Funny that.

And it's— I've got to just— I don't know, I'm probably waffling on and going out of all order, but one of the biggest things of my change is to make myself happy. Yes, because you can do it on purpose. You, you can, you can, you know, if I'm feeling miserable, I can make things happen that I know I will enjoy rather than just carry on being miserable. So I might phone somebody. I started doing voluntary work, not because I want to do voluntary work, because it makes me feel good, you know. And it may not be the right reason to do voluntary work, but I think it is.

It's the reward you get from it, but it makes you feel—

so I started doing things that I know make me feel better, which is really— it sounds really stupid, but it doesn't.

I mean, that is all part of reframing. That's all part of how to cultivate a positive mindset and how to, you know, how to see what's possible and how to get unstuck and get into a different place and not have food on your mind the whole time. Because so many people talk about the food noise. You know, I was, I was being interviewed by a newspaper today and we were talking about food noise and that's what the feature is going to be about. And the— incidentally, it was about weight loss jabs because all the media is obsessed with weight loss jabs. And it was— this article is specifically particularly for people who, who are going to be coming off them and they need to have something that's going to take out, take away the fear of putting the weight back on and help them to maintain it. So she wanted to talk to me about my book and it's, and there's so much in the book for people that all stages of everything, you know, whether you're on the SlimPod programme and you're on different parts of the journey, whether you have never heard of SlimPod and you want to do something different, whether you've actually been on a diet, you've lost weight, whether you've been on leg jabs and lost weight, all of those things. And so, um, you know, but you are one of these people in the book who are there because You are an inspiration, um, and you have been the master of your own life, uh, now, um. You've gone from where you were to now just this, um, amazing, um, you know, amazing force of nature.

Thank you.

So if anybody has any questions, then please do please do ask them right now because I will ask Jane anything you want me to, within reason. But you know, it is, as I was saying about your journey, the, the stages— I've spoken to you you a few times, uh, in your journey. I would see you posting things in SlimPodClub because I'm always in there spying on people. And, um, and I saw you in there and, and how that was all going. I thought, my word, this is just extraordinary. Um, you know, and, and different people change in different ways. That's the beauty of program. Everybody has an individual experience, and you know, not everybody needs to go on plant food. Just want to tell you that you don't have to be eating, um, 60 plant foods a week. Uh, you don't. You can just do 20.

Um, but it began a competition. It became a competition to how many I could get. How many could eat different things?

And that's amazing. Now there is a question here. Did you, did you find you didn't really realize all you were ingesting when you were eating, you know, all the food that you were kind of secretly or whatever? Um, because this lady's saying, or this person, I don't know if it's a lady because the name isn't there, so apologies. Um, I would go into a daze and hoover a whole packet of biscuits. Was that— were you in a trance state when you were doing that?

Sometimes yes, but sometimes no, because I was doing it on purpose. Sometimes if there's a pack of biscuits or something next to me, they would all be gone and I wouldn't realize they were all gone. But if there was nothing next to me, I knew I shouldn't be having anything because I would have already had like God knows what. But I would still go and get it because I wanted more, if that makes sense. So I knew I was— I, a lot, most of the time I knew I was doing it. I knew it was on my third attempt, it was my third trip to the shop, and I'd had fish and chips that day but I was going to have a McDonald's.

Yes, indeed. So did you have, in your SlimPod journey, have you had any setbacks? And if you did, how did you get past them?

I've not seen them as setbacks because it's just a process. I have probably haven't lost any weight over the winter, and I may have put a little bit on. But it's a process and I'm not doing what I used to do. I haven't gone to the shop and bought chocolate. I have to say I've gone to the shop to buy chocolate twice, walked out without buying chocolate. I actually walked out and they probably think I'm shoplifting. But it's a process, isn't it? For me. It's not always going to be easy. I broke a rib, as we know, in November and couldn't exercise. And then I had bad asthma about and colds and things, so didn't exercise for a bit. And my win after that is I didn't go back to nought. I didn't go back to nought. When I broke my rib, It wasn't going to be that. I knew it wasn't going to be ending. And I, you know, I haven't properly exercised for about 3 months and don't mind. I'm now itching to exercise and I've been out every day for a walk because I'm feeling much better in myself and itching to get going. I only walk. I don't do what you do in the gym. I was like, I watched a video on Instagram the other day and I'm like, what? What?

I know, I know, it does become a little bit, um, I don't want to use the word addictive because I'm not addicted to it, but she's talking about a weight training thing, but I was, I was so ill as well, you know, I had pneumonia and, um, and couldn't do it, and then when I got back to it, I thought, right, here goes. It was, you know, it was this, I need to, I need to be strong again. And it was, it was because I felt so weak and so lacking in energy for so long. This was, this, this, this thing, this, you know, what you saw was, was for me more of a mental achievement rather than weights. So yes, it was, it was, yes, I did it!

And that was my going for a walk and getting up because I've struggled to get out of bed in the dark and things. So mine was like that on Monday when I'm going, I'm gonna get up and that is gonna be it.

It does, it's the feeling that you get where you would probably have once got that from a Victoria sandwich.

Yes, and it's a thought, and I tell myself, I may not want to get up and I may not want to go, but I will feel better. And I do. And I come in that door— I'm just in my— by my front door at the minute. I come in the door and I feel good. I knew that I would. I do every time. It's my little walk through the door.

Is that your happy dance?

Yeah, when I come through the door, I feel good. That's fantastic. Um, so, uh, I don't believe I say these things sometimes.

I love that, love that. Um, I could just see you doing it as well. So there's another question. Um, have you ever struggled with motivation during the 2 years? Um, uh, so this person says I'm Sorry, sorry, it doesn't have a name, and so therefore I'm just calling you a person. You know, I can't— I hate not calling people by their names. So have you ever struggled with motivation? She says, or he says, I'm following the program to the letter and very similar to you, how I've researched food, made so many healthy changes, but sustained a little plateau of 6 months now. And feel a bit unmotivated seeing no change. You see, that's what happens to people, feel a little bit unmotivated, but it's the body's way of relaxing, just, just catching up, I think, you know, that's what all the research says anyway. But you answer that, you're the one who needs to answer this question, not me.

I, I can, I can have a day where I go out and it's not a day, it's it's a way of life. So I can go out in a day, have a cocktail or two, have a little bit of a lunch out with my friends, whatever, go out with my husband, but that next day I don't look at it like I'm not trying to achieve, you know, I'm not trying to achieve that I'm not on a diet. I've got past the wanting to do that every day, if that makes sense. Yeah, I can do the things, but the next day I— even though, like I say, I've put weight on it, I know I put weight on in the winter, my clothes are a little bit tighter. I don't know how much weight, but I still get into a size 16. I'm happy with that, you know. But in the summer when I want to move more and things, and, and that it'll— I know it'll come off. It's not about weight. It's a—

yeah, so what you're saying is, you know, the motivation will kick in again, um, you know, at some point. You're just giving yourself a break, not beating yourself up.

It's just, it's just a way of life. I eat, I eat non-processed food, and I eat smaller portions, and I move more. In the summer, I move a lot more and that, and I find it hard because in the summer I don't want to eat or fast. And this happened like over the couple of years. In the winter, I just don't want to fast. I want a breakfast and lunch and a dinner. But I don't think I've lost weight. It's not— I'm not trying. I don't need motivating, you see, if you see what I mean, because I'm not trying. Yeah, no, it's just a way of life.

Way of life. Yeah. When you, you just mentioned fasting, um, that's a kind of like— you, we've spoken about that in the past. Um, it's, it's— you're, you're kind of a— you're like me, a natural intermittent faster, aren't you?

Not so much in the winter, but I've come— this nice sunshine, I haven't wanted to eat, right? It's, it's just happened. I'm not hungry and that, and I've realized, you know, but if I am hungry, I will eat. But yes, and I do use fasting because it's— it— everything you read about fasting, and I'll skip breakfast, I have dinner, and sometimes I will do 24 hours. Or, you know, and other times I'll just skip breakfast and do lunch. But it's eating when I'm hungry. But I also have last year used it as a way of looking at sort of protecting my, you know, having good bacteria. It's supposed to be good for you if you do certain things. I can't explain it. I know I've read it and that, and I'm not advising anybody else to do it. But I like, you know, sometimes I got as long as 36 hours because I wanted to try it, but it wasn't any hardship, right? And that it was, it was just I drank water and everything was fine. I want you to try it and that. And but, you know, so I use fasting.

So you do various bits and pieces?

Yeah, bits and pieces.

Nobody is saying, Jay, just before there's mayhem, nobody is saying that, Jay, Jane isn't saying people should do that. She's just saying it makes her feel good and she does this for her. So just so you know, she's not recommending everybody goes and does that.

And I don't do it over the winter either because I choose not, you know. But it's in the summer, I've already like, I just don't feel like eating. Yeah, as soon as the weather improves, I don't feel like eating.

And that's the way you are.

That's the way I am. And that. So I don't, you know.

And did you have any plateau periods? I suppose it's another— it's a kind of another part of that question, really, or a different question, but it's a similar topic. Um, if you did have any plateaus, if so, how did you move on from that? Now, you've kind of said you just— it's a way of life, so you don't— you don't see them as plateaus, do you?

No, no, no. I'm not trying to lose weight. Anymore. I will lose weight, if that makes sense, because I eat healthily.

Yeah, so you know, you know it's inevitable, but you're just not, you're not, you're just not trying.

Yeah, it's my mindset around food is completely different. I'm not, I'm not, I don't have an issue with my weight anymore. I quite like the way I look, and I look at myself and I'll go into Tesco's and see myself in the reflection and I think, oh, you look alright. But before, I wouldn't have wanted to look at that reflection. I'm happy with how I am, but I will— I do, you know, ideally I've got another couple of stone screws, but over the summer when I'm happy and I'm going out for 10-mile walks and things, I should— it won't be a problem. I should just do it. And but I do, like I say, I've put weight on over the winter. I know I have. I don't know how much. But I'm still in the size 16, still happy with how I look, but I'm not trying to, you know, I'm not on a diet.

Sure, exactly.

Just eating very healthily.

Amazing. Um, there's one question, another question: did you stop drinking cow's milk, and if so, what are you drinking instead now in tea or coffee, etc.?

Believe it or not, I've gone back onto cow's milk.

Right.

Since SlimPod. I know. And the funniest thing is, since I am now 57, but since the age of 5, because my mum joined Weight Watchers when I was 5, I have drank skimmed milk. And for the past 6 months, I have drank full fat milk when I have full fat, when I have milk at all. It's bizarre. I now eat full fat food and my cholesterol stayed low. Isn't that fascinating? It is really, yeah. I don't drink too much milk because I've got eczema and asthma and things, and dairy's not supposed to be too good for things like that. But if I have a bit of milk in my tea, it's full fat milk now. But I just used to not drink tea and coffee to stay off the milk and didn't have milk. I didn't like alternatives because, and now most of the alternatives, if you have oat milk and things, they've got so many additives in, right? I can't see an alternative milk that doesn't full of additives.

Yeah, that's really interesting.

Unless you make your own, I think you can make your own, but that's a faff.

What, have a goat in the garden or something?

No way! You can make cashew milk, can't you? Nut milk and stuff. Okay, mix it up. I've seen it on telly, but I'm not going to use it. I thought you were going to have a goat in the garden or something. No, but yeah, lots of, lots of, uh, I did, I have looked at alternative milks, but I can't find one that is not full of additives, so I went back to drinking milk.

Right, interesting. So another question, um, would you recommend joining SlimPod Extra after the 12 weeks. Wow, that's an interesting one. You are on Slimpod Extra?

I have, I'm on VIP now because—

Yes, you are.

Yeah, I'm on the VIP section now because I've gone through—

Why, why did you join Slimpod Extra after 12 weeks then?

I wanted more information, right? And I think that's, you know, doing all the exercises and help me put my brain further right. Because the weight was done.

But yeah, I did the wheel and, you know, and yeah, no, you mastered your own.

Yeah, but you have dealt with how— yes, definitely join Extra, would fully join Extra and, and that, and carry on with it. And, and that my only wish, and you've got your here now, please keep sending the morning quotes, even though I've gone through it. Okay. I was bereft.

Oh, bless you. All right, I will— we'll get on to that. And another, probably the last question of the day, unless there's maybe one more, we can fit in one more after this. What has How have other people reacted to your weight loss?

Positively, but I don't— people close to me I've asked not to, because it's become— I used to be really proud of my weight loss, but I've realised that lots of people— my friend who's quite skinny pointed out that she didn't like her body anyway. And then people, you know what I mean? And weight shouldn't matter.

No, and I don't talk about it as much. I don't talk about it anywhere when I'm out because what do you do? I'm an accountant.

Yeah, and yeah, and I've just, I've asked people close to me that, and I've just explained I don't really want, you know, discuss it. I, one thing I do like is going I see my dad, who's in a care home because he's got dementia, and he doesn't tell me how ugly and fat I am anymore.

Goodness.

He doesn't know what he said, but he'd always go on about dieting and how I shouldn't, how I look a mess. And sometimes he didn't even realize that was me, and he'd go, look at her there, how fat that cow is there, because he doesn't actually understand but he can't, he doesn't do that anymore, and that has made a huge difference to go and see my dad.

Oh, bless.

But yes, yeah, he wouldn't, he doesn't understand, he doesn't know, and I knew that, but he would always go on if he didn't know it was me without a concern because he'd say, you can't go on like this. But then if I took him, used to take him cake, and if I took cake, he'd just say, you can't have that, you're too fat to have that. You know, and it just upset him if we went in with 2 cakes. So I didn't take cake, but he would have always mentioned how fat I was whenever we went to see him. But he doesn't now. So, you know, wow.

So last question, um, I'm sorry, you can still hear that I've got this flaming cough, um, So the question is, how much weight did you lose? Now, we talked, we said that at the beginning, but there were people just coming in. Can you just give another little, for anybody who missed it at the beginning, quite clearly this person did, um, a synopsis of where you were before and where you are now?

Size 24 before, about 19 stone, uh, I'm only 5 foot 2. So now I don't know how heavy I am. I think I'm in the 12s, maybe just nudging the 13s, but I have no idea. But I am a size 16. I'm wearing a wear size 16.

The last time you weighed, it was about 6 stone off, wasn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

And your health, um, you had blood pressure issues, you were diabetic, you had fatty liver, IBS.

I've got every allergy known to man, but the IBS is virtually gone. Well, I think it has gone. IBS is gone, fatty liver's gone. I don't have a fatty liver anymore. I don't have diabetes anymore. Uh, I do have blood pressure pills but not as much, and I'm so much healthier. And, you know, I think my arthritis has improved, but over the winter it's got a bit dodgy. And I used to think that was a fallacy, but it does get worse in the winter because I'm so healthy now, and I notice the difference in the winter, feeling a bit stiffer. But, uh, yeah, lots, lots of improved. Migraines— I don't quite remember the last time I had a proper migraine. I used to have those regularly. So yeah, lots, lots of improvements. Just amazing.

And, and honestly, the only thing you have done is listen, is listen to the podcast, being on the program, and changed your food dramatically.

And eat less, move more, make better choices.

Yeah, but it has been It has been getting rid of the ultra-processed food and being the master of your choices, um, and you doing the research as to what, you know, what food helps with this and that and the other, um, that has, that has been the game changer.

Yeah, sort of look at it, inflammatory diet, but realize I'm not, I'm actually probably eating an inflammatory diet anyway. I was like trying to read the inflammatory diet books and things to sort of see if I could do some more to sort of get me off the autoimmune tablet. But it looks like I'm already there anyway. So yeah, wow. Yeah, if anybody's listening who has got my health, similar health problems, just don't take Just don't have all the processed food.

Yeah, it's honestly, I think, I think so many health problems you've just, you know, you've talked about so many things. Even arthritis has improved, hasn't it?

Yeah, I, I have, I think they used to call it atopic or something. I'm full of allergies. I have a, you know, my immune system is not being good. I'm always full of allergies and, and things. So I have the whole gambit, eczema, asthma, and everything has improved.

Amazing.

You know, all the allergy stuff's improved as well.

We've got so many people though who had arthritis and could hardly move, uh, and now are running, you know, couch to 5K, um, used to be in mobility scooters, no longer running upstairs and changing. And like Lynn, lovely Lynn Fox, who was going to move house because she couldn't get up the stairs And now she hasn't done that at all, and she's loving her—

yeah, I used to crawl up my stairs, and now I can run up my stairs.

Amazing. Anyway, look, we, we've been here for an hour. Um, I've loved every second of it, like I always do on these. And, uh, Jane, you're just so inspirational. Um, you know, just, just such a, a great, um, you, you earn your place in my book, let's put it that way.

But can I also just say, during it I've seen lots of messages go up and I haven't been able to look at them or anything, and I know they're going to disappear, and I just want to thank everybody for everybody's kind words because I haven't been able to do anything about it.

I haven't seen— I haven't— I've only seen the messages that are coming in the chat box but, um, you might see some on Facebook if we were streamed to Facebook. So you may be able to go on there and, and answer a few. It might be on there. Um, but anyway, thank you everybody. Time up. Um, thank you so much, Jane. You—

I mean, you have to say that— I'm going to say it because it's your enthusiasm. You are there, and I don't mean to be funny, you probably don't ever need be working at 9 o'clock at night. You could retire, and there you are, because you, you're the inspirational one because you do this for us. So thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks so much. Um, everybody makes me cry.