How Lorraine Lost 11 Stone Without Dieting | SlimPod Weight Loss Transformation

Lorraine started this journey with SlimPod 7 years ago. She lost the weight and has kept it off now for 3 years without too much effort at all. It's just her lifestyle. So Lorraine, just fabulous to— thank you so much for doing this. You're so inspiring. In fact, in 15 years of, of running this program, I can honestly say you are our biggest loser, and I hate that. I hate saying that, but I've said it so many times now because actually you are. You have lost the most weight without dieting. And I remember you saying to me when I met you a couple of years ago in Southend, You said to me that the way you— I said to you, how have you done this? And you said to me, because I've stopped dieting. And, and so just you start, tell it by telling us, what was life like when you were 11 stone heavier?

I think to the outside world, I probably looked happy and comfortable in my own skin because I felt like I was living a double life almost. It— I have this face for everybody else, but the reality is that I was thoroughly miserable. I was depressed a lot of the time. I was on antidepressants. I was on anxiety meds, and I was, I was basically a recluse. I used to go to work, I used to come home, and I felt like food was my, my only friend, to be honest. I would arrange to go out with friends, and at the last minute I would cancel. Every time at the last minute, to the point that they stopped asking me to go out because there was, there was no point. And that's because I felt, I felt fat, I felt ugly. I felt that whatever I bought didn't look good, to the point that I lived in black because I thought black was slimming. And I lived in black, and, and life went on like that for, for quite a long time. Um, it came to a head, I think, when I came out of a, a long marriage. I was married for 30 years, and that marriage broke down over a number of years. And when it did, I felt— although it was my choice to walk away— I felt like something was missing in my life, you know. And that made me eat more.. And I got to a point where I couldn't walk very well. Um, and so it was my boss actually said to me, have you had an accident, Lorraine? You, you can't walk properly. And I said, oh yeah, yeah, you know, I stumbled and I've twisted my ankle, but I just couldn't walk. But I think the weight was too heavy for my joints. And I was sat one night just scrolling on Facebook and I saw an advert for thinkingslimmer.com, and I, I've read it and thought, a bit skeptical, but what have I got to lose? And, and I will admit, Sandra, I thought this listening to a tape is not, you know, perhaps not gonna work, but what have I got to lose at this point? Because I was, I was pretty desperate, to be honest. And from, I would say, from day one from listening, I saw small changes every day. And I think the, the psychology behind it clicked with my mindset, and it, it just, it just worked. But I could, I could see myself as a person kind of unraveling, like I was watching myself unravel. You know, it was, it was the most bizarre but the most amazing kind of thing because it wasn't just in what I was eating, all the different foods I was eating and what I was learning, but it was the confidence that I was gaining. And I joined in the March 7 years ago, and 4 months later I met my now current partner. So that's how much confidence that SlimFit gave me.

Really?

Yeah. So amazing. Sorry, I've just got a drink. It's been life-changing for me.

Amazing. So, Lorraine, can you just pull the camera down a little bit so that we can see your wonderful top? Because you're now not in black anymore.

I'm usually in— I am usually in lots of colors, but yeah, it's, uh, No, you're, you're looking great.

You're looking absolutely fabulous. Um, and we can see that you've lost—

yeah, I'm not in— yeah, I don't dress in black all the time.

You can leave the camera down a little bit, like a, like a widow. Um, so yeah, do, do leave the camera down so we can see, you know, a little bit more of you. That'd be amazing. Fantastic. So Your, your great statement about, I've lost the weight because I've stopped dieting. Tell us a little bit about that. I— Did you do a few diets?

Yeah, I tried Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Atkins, SlimFast. Oh God, that was awful. I tried cabbage soup diet. I tried the hard-boiled egg diet. Going back years ago, I even tried something by Sam Fox, who was a model. I don't know if you remember, Sandra, but she, she was promoting this little fudge kind of things that you ate in the morning. I even bought them. I bought into everything. And yes, I initially lost weight, but then because of the restrictions that it imposes on you and because it doesn't address the psychology behind it and why we do what we do, that weight goes on, but you end up putting more on besides. So as I was dieting, I was actually getting fatter. Yeah, yeah.

And were you— I mean, were you an emotional eater when you started dieting? Because you did like your little bit of sugar, didn't you?

Oh yeah, yes, yeah, I was— I would say I was a sugar addict, but yeah, definitely.

And when did the sugar stop?

Almost immediately, almost immediately.

And how did that happen?

It was like it was just like a switch that went on inside me, my brain, somehow. I mean, I didn't, I didn't stop, I didn't stop everything, but I cut down drastically. Um, I felt quite ill for the first 10 days with really bad headaches, which Dr. Google told me was a withdrawal. So it was coming down off the sugar. But after that 10 days, I felt brilliant, like, like all these chemicals were out of my system, you know, like I was poisoning myself almost.

And so how was that? You must have tried doing that before, or stopping sugar lots of times in order to lose weight. What was the difference that you— what was the difference in the, in, you know?

I, I just felt, I think, because SlimPod gave me a choice, really. You know, it was, yes, it's there, and yes, I can have it, but I don't have to gorge on it every day. I was eating 3 chocolate bars a day. But that was like, yes, you can have some chocolate. Chocolate's fine. Normal people eat chocolate. So, you know, now I do eat chocolate, but I eat the 80-85% dark chocolate and it is quite bitter, so I only need a little bit anyway. So I do still eat it, but I don't, I don't gorge on chocolate anymore.

And so how has, how's your eating changed? Because obviously you're now, you know, you're now maintaining your weight loss, which is fantastic. How, how has that all changed? So enabling you to— obviously it's a mindset change, but emotional eating is gone and all the rest of it. How's that all happened?

It's, it's almost like it's, it's now a habit. This is what— this is my diet now. Whereas before my diet was rubbish, you know, eating rubbish and chocolate and croissants and all the rest of it. It's now It's now a normal way of eating for me. It's like the Mediterranean way of eating. And that's— it's a habit, I think. Yeah.

So you don't even, you don't even think about it?

No, I don't. So I will automatically, like I used to automatically have ham and cheese croissant on the way to work. It's now berries and fruit and sprinkled with nuts. You know, it's, it, that's what I do. It's a habit, I think.

Amazing. And so then you, you know, you lost lots of weight and you, you have got into some amazing clothes because I've seen lots of them. Just on one thing, exercise-wise, what has changed there? Lorraine, you go first. Have you upped your exercise? Because obviously you were hardly walking when you were that side? How did all that— I mean, first of all, are you exercising more?

I do. I believe that you've got to find something that you really love, otherwise you're not going to— you know, I can't go to the gym because I hate going to the gym, so that's not just not going to work for me. But I walk everywhere. I like being in nature. I like being by the sea, and I'm quite lucky enough to live, you know, 3 miles from the sea, and I've got nature all around the house. So I I do walk out, and I walk out daily, and I do swim, and I hula hoop. And them are my 3 main kind of habits, really. And I started off walking very slowly, literally around the corner, and just built it up from there. And I absolutely love it now. Absolutely love walking. So I think you do need to find something that you really love, because if not, you just won't stick with it.

Yeah. So it's literally hula hooping and walking. You don't go to the gym. You don't do much else. Swimming. Yeah. Yeah.

I've just booked some meditation lessons as well. So I quite— I'm not— I try with meditation, but I'm not particularly good with it. So I thought, go and have some lessons. Why not?

Yeah. So what size were you to start with, Lorraine?

I was— I would probably say I was bordering on a size 28.

Right, and what size are you now?

14 to 16.

Wow, amazing, amazing.

Yeah, I've got clothes in a 14, clothes in a 16.

And that's your happy weight? Yeah, happy size.

I've kind of plateaued for, I would say, the last 12 months. So although I would like to lose a little bit more, maybe a stone more, I'm quite— I'm happy in my own skin. So whether I do or I don't, I'm not bothered because I'm, you know, I'm happy and I'm eating well and I feel well. So yeah, yeah.

Thank you for sharing your story because so many people didn't know it.

No problem. You're welcome.