From Size 20 to Size 12: Sally’s Mind-Blowing Slimpod Transformation

So I've got Sally Ann Griffiths with me today, and she's just had the most amazing journey. Um, and yes, she's lost lots of weight, and that's a bonus, uh, but it is the, the story of the different things that have happened along the way which are just fantastic and mind-blowing. And I just wanted her to come on, uh, my my interview and my blog and just everything, uh, to explain in her own words, uh, how the differences that have actually happened since she's been on the SlimPod program. So Sally, absolutely lovely to have you here, and thank you so much for joining me because, um, because we spoke a little while ago and you were in the very early stages of your journey, um, but you had had so so many changes at that point, and I just really wanted to talk to you then. So this is now an update because some other wonderful things have happened. And, uh, and, you know, I just wanted to inspire everyone because your, your journey, especially with your spotty dress, um, your spotty jumpsuit, I mean, uh, because I, I just love that spotty jumpsuit, uh, and, and I just You know, I just want to share your story with the world, and it's fabulous. So tell me, tell everybody the story about the spotty jumpsuit.

Okay, okay. And thank you, Sandra, for having me on again and having me back. So, and I think the spotty jumpsuits, which is what I've chosen to wear today, and was— I've now— I'm 11 months into my SlimPod journey. I think I was probably about month 4 or month 5 when we last spoke.

Yeah.

And I've lost over 2 stone, and I think it's 3 kind of dress sizes. But the thing about the Spotty Jumpsuit for me was around how we look at ourselves in the mirror. And so I am a bit of a shopaholic, that's no surprise to my husband. So, you know, I've really enjoyed my journey of kind of getting rid of the clothes in my wardrobe that are too big and giving giving those away to family and friends and kind of buying new things. So I love that feeling of being able to get in things that have never been worn before, or maybe been worn kind of very rarely, or buying brand new. But I bought a Lipsy spotty jumpsuit, and for the first time when I put it on in the mirror, I actually could see what everybody else could see, and I I was so gobsmacked by it. I ran down the stairs to my daughter and said, "I look really skinny in this. I'm skinnier than I've ever been." And she looked at me kind of quite puzzled and she said, "But you know you are. You've lost over 2 stone. Of course you're skinny." And I think she just didn't get it in that when you've been overweight for so long, And even when you're getting in clothes that you might not have got into before, when you look in the mirror, you don't always see— I know body dysmorphia is a really serious problem, and I wouldn't go that far around that, but I think there is something about self-image, and there was just something about putting on the spotty jumpsuit that kind of think, oh wow, girl, yeah, you know, this really is making progress. And I think it showed me how your mind and your, even your eyes, what your eyes can see, play tricks on you and how you then carry that. Yeah. From a belief perspective. And yeah, that's it. So it was I think it's made me now feel much more positive and confident about myself. And when I do look in the mirror, then I kind of, if I have a day where I look and I maybe don't love what I see, I perhaps push back a little bit more and say, well, is that really fair? Because you can still fit into everything that you could fit into yesterday. So you've kind of not suddenly become the Nutty Professor overnight. So, you know, so yeah, that, that was my jumpsuit story. Yeah.

And, and, you know, I saw you wearing that, uh, on an Instagram, uh, picture that you posted, and you looked— you, you absolutely look so fabulous. And, uh, and yeah, it's, it's just, it's just a lovely story. Um, but, but mainly because of the way your mind plays tricks on you. And it happens to so many people. I see that posted in the group all the time. And, you know, please, you know, people taking photographs of before and after and say, I can't see the difference. And everybody's saying, but there's such a big difference.

Exactly. Exactly. And I think, you know, in the mirror is probably when we are, when we are the most unkind. To ourselves. That's when we're most brutal with ourselves, when we, when we look in the mirror. And so if what you're actually seeing isn't the reality, then it really took me back to kind of how much confidence has that zapped from me over the years, when actually I probably looked great, or, you know, I certainly looked fine. So yeah, it was, it was a real eye-opener for me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, brilliant. And, um, you, um, You talk about diet failure mode. Tell me what that used to do to you and how different it is now.

Okay, okay. So, and I love the fact that SlimPod isn't about being on a diet, and, but the main reason for that is, one, I don't do good with deprivation of any kind, and, but, but secondly, because there's no wagon to fall off. And therefore that kind of has a real big kind of impact on me. Previously, when I was in kind of that diet mode, I'd do well for about 6 weeks. But then I would fall off the diet at that reason, at that time, for no real apparent reason. I think it was just my belief was that I wasn't gonna make it. And this is what happened to me. And then the weight would go back on. And I think what that really did is it kind of got me into a negative cycle. I have never, ever in the 30 years plus that I've been dieting, got to plan or got to the goal that I wanted to. And so with SlimPod, it feels like for the first time I'm kind of, I'm there and, you know, and I have got a goal map. I, there is a little bit more that I want to do, but it almost feels like the icing on the cake now. And as opposed to a before, you were just kind of constantly, you know, half a pound off, 3 pounds on, and, and just in a real negative cycle, which created a lot of brutal self-talk which impacted my self-worth, I think. And I think that's quite similar to a lot of other Slimpodders that I've seen on the Facebook page, and that we really are, or can be, you know, I would speak to myself in a way I wouldn't speak to another human being. And I think SlimPods helped me become kind of much kinder. And to self. And I think that's then meant that I feel happier in myself than I have, you know, I think for a really long time. And, you know, I do my affirmations in the morning when I look in the mirror and I kind of give myself a high five, Sanjha, which is, I know, one of your tips in kind of not that long ago. And I kind of feel every day as though I get up in a positive mood and I can do this. I am doing this. And, you know, I'm no angel when it comes to food. I would have kind of said, you know, I'm probably more the tortoise than the hare. But you know what? When you've been the tortoise that's never actually got to the end line before, That's okay. That's fine. Because progress is, is, is what it's all about.

Absolutely. And, and you know what, this whole self-sabotage thing, um, at, uh, at that, that week 6 time, that happens to so many people because they just reflect back on what's happened. Well, their brain does. They're not conscious that they're doing it. Um, And, you know, did that happen a lot before SlimPod? Was that, you know?

Yeah, absolutely. And I do remember, and I think I posted a couple of weeks ago because I saw, I see others posting. So I remember posting about that 6 weeks to say, hey guys, I've nearly lost 11 pounds and I've not been on a diet, but yet there's something in my head that is kind of telling me that I'm not going to be able to do it and that, you know, is this normal? And I remember it was the first time, and I think Kate Morris reached out to me, and one of our lovely community managers, and she said, absolutely, Sally-Anne, this is about limiting beliefs, this is about self-sabotage. And she pointed me to the direction of one of your videos that, and again, I kind of watched that and I was like, ah, okay. And I think with these things, because don't get me wrong, you know, it's, it's not a bed of roses. There are good days and there are bad days. But I think that's what I've also really liked about the Extra programme, in that because you continue to give tips around how do you kind of overcome some of those limiting beliefs or some of those self-sabotage, which will continue to kind of come through from time to time. Um, but yeah, so it's, you know, I think most of the time it's fine, but even recognizing when you're self-sabotaging or when you may be holding a limiting self-belief, and I think is a really positive way of trying to break through that in itself.

It really is. It's a major, major breakthrough when you actually know it's going on and you can do something to stop it.

And, and I, you know, I, I would have said I was a emotionally intelligent person before. I work in HR, so you would kind of assume I kind of understand a little bit about the psyche of people. I had no idea why I was failing on diets and how emotionally, how my emotions and those limiting self-beliefs really controlled me. And I think I find it shocking. I find it really fascinating. Yeah. What impact that can have.

Absolutely. Really big, big, really big, big deal actually. So exercise. Ah. Now you've got a big story to tell on exercise and honestly it isn't, it is, it's not what people would think. So give us, a little bit of insight as to what's happened with your relationship with running?

Honestly, this, this is the one. So I kind of, I know I probably say this about everything about SlimPod, but this probably is the one that is a bit really Sally-Ann. Can the real Sally-Ann please stand up? Because before SlimPod, I was a real couch potato. And, and I think part of the reason for that was I kind of I work hard, I play hard, and therefore kind of, you know, sitting on the sofa at night watching the telly was kind of where I took my downtime, I suppose. And the exercise piece, I think when we last spoke, Sandra, kind of towards the end of last year, it had started to kick in then, but it wasn't an immediate thing for me. And so again, I would say it was probably around about the 2-month month mark, I saw that I was exercising more than I was previously. And I really kind of, you know, I love my dog walking now, whereas I kind of probably did it as a chore. Now I get quite offended if anybody else tries to take the dog out. I started to get into LWR routines, I think, probably around November time. I think that was after Lynn, one of the other Community Managers, had put a challenge out. And I really love neat steps, and so I do have my kind of my Apple Watch on where I am looking at steps, and I make a commitment now to do at least 12,000 steps every day, whereas previously I probably averaged about 6,000 a day. And so that was all great, so I'd kind of got this routine going, and then Earlier this year, as I was doing the, um, Lindsay Windham-Reid routines, there was a few that kind of started to incorporate jogging a little bit. So it was like walk or jog for a minute and then do a minute toning, walk or jog and then do a minute toning. And I've had a clothes horse, otherwise known as a treadmill, for about the last 50 years. I don't think I've even stepped on it for the last 10 years. I'd attempted previously to jog on it, but completely failed, hated every moment of it. And then I think I'd been doing these routines probably for a few weeks, and there was one day I was doing it and I thought, I'm not getting quite as out of breath with this as I would have. There was just something that popped in my mind that said, I wonder if you could run on the treadmill. And so the next day I actually went on the treadmill and I thought, right, just run for as long as you can, as far as you can. And actually, I don't even think it was for as long as you can. It was like, I wonder if I could do a mile. And I literally, I ran 2 miles in 26 minutes non-stop. And I was absolutely astounded because I had never run 2 miles in my life before. I don't think I'd even run a mile before without stopping. And I even could have run further, if I'm honest, Sandra, but, you know, I kind of did one mile, do two, and like, okay, let's call it a day. And, you know, don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna be running marathons anytime soon. So, you know, it's not that I've got the running bug, but I think the fact that I'd got that level of fitness over that time without really realizing it really shocked me. And, and so what I chose to do instead, um, was incorporate it into my daily routine. So as part of my 12,000 steps, I get up early before work and I take Elvis out for his walk. And when I come back Monday to Friday, I've committed to myself, I then get on the treadmill and I run a mile, don't run further, And in my head, it's that you've only got to run for 10 minutes because I can now run a mile in 10 and a half minutes. And as I say, it's, and whilst I think I've said to you before, I don't really like running though, Sandra, I think I secretly do, but just short distances because I choose to do it. Nobody makes me do it. Nobody would know, you know, the rest of the family asleep when I'm on the treadmill at 7 o'clock in the morning. And, and so, and what I do like, and I've heard you say this before, is almost that anticipation of the endorphins that it releases. So by the time I get off the treadmill, by the time I sit down at my desk, which I'm kind of at my desk quite a lot of the day, I've probably done somewhere between 6,000 to 8,000 steps, which then make those extra steps really, you know, achievable. But yeah, it is the fact that I can run a mile or 2 miles. I know that I could run 3 if I could be bothered. And my aim is to kind of get to a 10-minute mile and take it from there. But yeah, it's— I've never done that in my life before.

Just staggering. I just, I think that that's the most incredible thing, actually. You know, just that you've had this thing in your house as well for 10 years.

Yeah, plus, yeah.

I'm surprised you haven't sold it.

I think again, it shows you, Sandra, I always wanted to be a better version of me. Yes. And so it was always like, no, I'm going to keep it because I am going to do it one day, one day. And yeah, but it was just that curiosity. And I think that's what's changed my relationship with, with food and with exercise and SlimPod, because, you know, I used to be a daily weigher as well, and, and now I have a curious relationship with the scales. I allow myself to go on it at certain times, but I also deliberately don't go on them if I think I've maybe put a pound on or whatever, because I'm not prepared to let them rule me anymore or control me, because previously that would've been a trigger to then eat more, eat more if I'd lost or eat more if I'd gained. Either way, that's never gonna be a great recipe. Whereas now when I look at the inch loss that I've lost, it is so much more significant than when I perhaps lost the similar weight before. And all of that I find quite curious. And yeah, and so I think that's probably one of the words that I use with— I swear, like that. And I call it the Slimpod magic because it just does seem to be a magical program.

And all this has been done, of course, without willpower.

Yeah, and that's the thing, because I think when we've spoken before, that's the bit that I would have said I really struggled with. And because I do love food, and I love all— it was really more food than alcohol for me. And I could eat a lot, I had a great capacity for eating and loved everything. And whereas— and that's why deprivation has never really been great for me, because the more you want something, you know, the more someone says you can't have it, the more I'll be dreaming around it. Whereas And kind of through that, particularly the sugar part and just the general listening to the daily parts, I think has just made it that now I still enjoy my food. I kind of call myself a bit of an 80/20 girl. So I'm not the 100% dedicated. I will still have maybe 3 or 4 bags of crisps a week. That's instead of a day, but you know, I could have had before and I deliberately avoid some of the trigger stuff. So I cannot buy Marks Spencer's beef and onion crisps. It's kind of just a fact because I'm going to eat them all whether they're in a big bag or in a 6-pack multi-pack. So I kind of, you know, don't buy them and then you won't eat them. But generally on a daily basis, I'm just, I find myself, and I never thought this would be the case for me, wanting to eat food that is good for me. And I think Michelle Budd's program has been really helpful in, in the education piece, and particularly looking around what's good for your gut, um, etc. And, and, and that feels, um, kind of a different way. I, you know, all of the diets before, if I'm honest, Sandra, weren't ever really about my health. They were about losing weight and what size clothes I could get into. And so I was only reflecting on one of my walks there, I think a couple of weeks ago, and I thought, ooh, that's a different feeling in that you are actually thinking around, no, I want to eat this because I know it's good for me. I don't want to eat that because I know it's not. And I've never had that relationship with food. And again, it's It's not through willpower, it's through choice. And that's quite a different feeling for me.

And so lastly, just tell me a little bit about your limiting belief about your size, um, because you know, you did have a big limiting belief, um, a while ago about never being able to get below a certain size. And what's happened to that limiting belief now and where are you?

Okay, okay. So when I joined SlimPod, so it'll be a year in August, I was a size 18 plus, which really means, Sandra, I was a size 20 but refusing to buy the clothes. Um, and so I, I had my kind of first goal, as it was, was to get down to a size 14. And I'd, I'd not really got to a size 14 ever. And even really when I got married, it was kind of pushing it very much. And so yeah, I think I'd kind of get to the 18, the 16, but getting beyond that was really, was really difficult. And I think when we last spoke the end of last year, I was kind of— I'd got a size 14 pair of jeans. And I think in our conversation, I was like, Sandra, I'm there, I'm there. And I think I was in selective size 14s, kind of as, you know, that my journey's gone on and I've lost further inches. I can be a size 14 in any shop that I go into. And again, I, I see posts on the Facebook page of, I don't believe I can, so I still might take 2 sizes in. But I love it when it's a, you know what, then that's great. And then I've never believed that I could be a 14, never mind a 12. And that is my kind of ultimate goal, goal map. I am, I do own size 12 clothes now. And when I look at the skinny jeans and I'm like, I'm never gonna get in there, and I do, and I wear them. And, you know, it isn't in everything, but, and actually I've also realized it's kind of more size 12 bottoms that I'm interested in, because I have, you know, got big boobs and I'm quite happy with those. So I think I probably always will be a 14 on the top, and that's fine. I think it was the size 12, you know, kind of hips and that, that I was— I'd love. And I'm kind of getting there, but it is like the icing on the cake because I never believed I'd get to 14, never mind thinking like, you know, those size 12s, you can get them on and they fit you comfortably, which is great.

Fantastic, because, you know, I'm always saying that so much of this is about believing you can, and that was really your blockage for a long, long time.

Yeah, definitely, definitely. And what I do is, you know, when I do have those doubtings I will force myself to measure myself rather than go on the scales. And anybody I talk to, regardless of what program they're going on, I now always say, please measure yourself, please measure yourself. Because that's the thing for me, you know, I've lost 47 inches, which is just kind of crazy, you know, and 6 of those off, off the hips. My waist, and, you know, and, and the list goes on. I measure a lot of places, you know, because I, I think I've got about 3 or 4 measurements just around that, between waist and hips and thighs, because that was where I felt I carried my weight before. But that really does show you the progress that you're making. The scales really are just a byproduct. Um, and yeah, I find that really kind of motivational as well as Obviously, there's been a shopaholic, the continual clothes deliveries that seem to come to the house as I need a new whole new wardrobe every few months.

Oh gosh, I love it, I love it, I love it. Look, thank you so much. Uh, I just, uh, I absolutely love talking to you because, uh, you just, um, that there's, there's just so much energy and so much joy coming out of coming out of everything that you say, and it's just lovely.

Ah, thank you, Sandra. And you know, from my perspective, you know, I know there are some incredibly inspirational people on that Facebook page who have lost enormous amounts of weight, and I love watching their posts, and I get inspiration from that. I suppose I just see I'm kind of one of the normal people that are maybe kind of tried diets and just don't ever seem to get on. And so, you know, if I can do it, then anybody can. And I, you know, I know I've said it before, but I'm so grateful to you, Sandra, for kind of sharing SlimPod with us and kind of, you know, letting that magic and dust and settle on me as well. And I'm delighted with the progress I've made.