How Lynn Beat 40 Years of Emotional Eating | Slimpod Transformation Story

So hello everybody, and welcome. I've got Lynn Hadrell with me, sitting with me today. Hello, Lynn.

Hello, Sandra.

And Lynn is the latest member of the Simpod team, and so I thought I would introduce her to you because she plays a major role in our, in our whole setup because she is the Community Manager. And it's really one of the most important jobs that there is in our SlimPod world because all our customers are so important to us. So I wanted to give a little bit of background into Liz's life because she's also a Slim Podder and has been, has had amazing success with her Slim Pod, and this is one of the reasons why she's ideal to be Community Manager. So I'm going to hand over to you, Lynn, and we can talk about, you can tell everybody about you know, what's been going on with your, with your journey up until you joined SlimPod, and then how it all changed. Because you had a bit of an unhealthy obsession with food, didn't you, from a long, long time ago?

Very unhealthy, very unhealthy. For as long as I can remember, I have hated the feeling of feeling hungry. So I have always stuffed until my belly is fit to burst. And when it's not fit to burst, I eat again, or I used to eat again. Yeah. And that's been going on for 40 years. Wow.

Wow. And so you, a long time ago, you, you had this experience where you went to bed without a biscuit.

This is true. Yes.

And how did that lead to secret binge eating and all the things that happened?

So I was hungry, but our food was very regimented at home. So we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner and no snacking, which is not a bad thing, but our portions were very small. And we were never allowed to ask for treats or snacks. My dad was a bit of a softie, so he would give in. Mum wasn't so soft. And one particular evening, I think I was about 7, and I really was hungry, so I asked if I could have a biscuit. Mum said, "Nope, off to bed." Dad said, "Yes." So they had this huge row. I ran up to bed crying, thinking, "Oh my goodness, what have I done? I've caused all this trauma in my family." you know, I felt sick with worry. I thought, that's it, my parents are going to hate me, they're going to split up, you know, all these scenarios that children think of irrationally. And that was it. And I was crying in bed, and then my dad snuck me up the biscuit and said, don't tell your mother. And so I gratefully ate the biscuit and never said a word to Mum about it. But I genuinely think that is when my, you know, looking back now, that's when my obsession with food began and the the fear of feeling hungry began and sneakily eating, not eating in front of people. That's been my biggest thing, binge eating in secret.

It's something actually that is a familiar story for so many people that I've come across over the last, you know, 10 or more years. And there's so many, there's deep-rooted issues at the base point of why they have have had such a difficult relationship with food all the way through their lives. Now, it didn't kind of end there, did it? There was a bit of an upset when you were about 11 years old, and which was very sad. And would you like to talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, that's fine. So my parents did get divorced, and it was very unusual in its day, but it was Mum that left the family home. So I was left with my two older brothers and my dad, so I kind of became the mum at 11 really, and I took on all the cooking and the cleaning and everything else. And it was strangely, once we got used to it, it was a very happy time because we were a very loving family, but Dad was always at work because he had to earn money to keep us fed, so I had to sort of pretty much run the house. And gradually over my teenage years, because I had more freedom around food and being allowed to pick what food to eat, and all my pocket money, everything, that was always spent on food, nothing else. I would pass a shop, go in, buy a bar of chocolate, bag of crisps, you name it. And it just went on from there, really. And that just became habitual.

Yeah, yeah. And so how has your health suffered, what, you know, with this, as a result of your bad relationship with food?

So I have joint issues from where I've been overweight for a long time. I've yo-yo dieted many times, and twice I have successfully lost weight and been weight I was happy with, if you want to look at the scales, but it all went back on again and more every single time. So that's caused me, you know, I had a difficult childbirth because I was overweight. I had terrible back pain. It literally spoiled the enjoyment of giving birth to my first child, you know, because I was in pain from other things, and that I have no doubt that was weight-related. And I've got osteoarthritis. Again, it's also bad for my joints and my bones carrying all the extra weight. But yeah, I did nothing about it. I just kept eating.

So, you signed up for Slimpod about 7 months ago, which was— which month?

8 and a half months now. It was, um, yeah, 14th of February, Valentine's Day.

Oh, amazing! And What's happened since then?

Oh, well, what hasn't happened? It's just been amazing, honestly. Within, um, within a week, I just felt different. Um, I wasn't binge— I wasn't binge eating as much. I wasn't obsessing about food as much. I felt happier, um, because my mental health has also struggled a lot over the years partly due to my weight, I'm sure, because no confidence, you know, nobody can love me, I'm fat and ugly, and, you know, all the horrible things that we say about ourselves when we're not confident. And something just clicked in my brain, and I just thought, oh, I really like this, this is great. And I did what was asked, I read all, you know, the instructions on joining, I thought, Right, this— something's clicked already, so this has got to be great. So I've got to do this properly. And I can honestly say at no point has it felt like I've been on a diet. Not, not once. It's just been amazing. The positivity, the confidence. I can look in the mirror now and think, oh, you don't look too bad. Whereas before I would avoid a mirror, you know, at all costs and very often cry if I did catch sight of myself. Never had any clothes because, you know, what was the point in dressing me? You know, just in black tunic tops, and, you know, there was no joy in clothes shopping for me, so I didn't do it. And it's— I, you know, I honestly can't say enough about Slimpod. It's, it's an all-in thing. It's— it doesn't focus on my weight. I haven't weighed for 2 months or more now.

Right.

I kind of, just out of interest for myself, I weigh maybe every 3 months, but I don't care what I weigh. I really don't care what I weigh.

But at the same time, you know you've dropped, um, I've dropped, um, at least 2 dress sizes, probably coming up to 3 now.

Um, I've lost, oh, I think it's about 8 or 9 inches off my waist. I've lost all over. You know, people see me now and they don't— they sort of look twice, you know, they don't recognize me, and it's lovely. It's really good.

But when you did stand on the scales, I think it was 2 and a half stone, was it, that went, or something like that?

Coming up to 3, so yeah.

Wow, very good. Excellent. So it hasn't all been plain sailing and a bed of roses, has it?

No, absolutely not. I do suffer from depression, although saying that, I am no longer on medication. That's amazing. And I've been on it for a long time. And yes, we, you know, I finally feel like a normal person, and normal people have blips and have bad days or bad weeks. Things happen in life, and I've just kind of learned that just roll with it, it will pass and everything will be okay again. So occasionally I might eat a bit more than perhaps I need, but I don't deny myself any food, any drink. If I really want it, I have it. But I just find naturally that I think I've had maybe 3 or 4 alcoholic drinks since I started SlimPod. And I've never intended to give up alcohol.

Wow.

I just don't want it. I ice cream, which I love. I, you know, I just don't think of these things at all. But even, and even in my bad times, I may not maybe feel like exercising that day, or yes, I do eat a bit more than I would, but it's not significant. I've not binged. I've not— it's just, I think I've just learned to roll with it and, you know, know that all these bad things that happen to us, they're happening to everybody else too, and sometimes a lot worse. And Yeah, just go with it because it will all be right in the end.

Yeah. So if somebody was just starting their SlimPod journey, um, what advice would you give them, um, as, as somebody who's now been on the program for 8 months and has made amazing progress?

Okay, so the main thing is positivity, 100% positivity. You have to look for the good in everything. And, you know, if you join the SlimPod program, it focuses on wins and, you know, looking for the good every single day. And that is the key for me, and also consistency. So decide you're going to do something. You know, SlimPod will guide you, but it can't do it all for you. You know, you do have to make some effort, but it's not a diet, it's not hard work. It's just, it's just life-changing. So yeah, positivity, stick with it, trust yourself, and trust in the SlimPod process, and it will work.

Thank you. So yeah, that, that's really— I just wanted to introduce Lynn to everybody properly because she's been working in the community. Well, you've been an active member in the community ever since you started, Lynn, and then when we wanted to get a community manager way back in September. It's now, what are we now, nearly, well, we're the end of October now. So you've been working in the community now for 5 or 6 weeks. And how have you been enjoying yourself? That's the main thing.

I love it. I absolutely love it. I love trying to help people and motivate people, and I just want to, you know, spread the word that, come on, honestly, if I can do it, anyone can do it, because I had so many issues, and, you know, 99% of the time they're not there now. It's just, I feel like a normal person around food, and that's just amazing.

Fantastic. And look, we are, we're starting a whole new service as well, which is called Gold Gatherings, and that was another reason why I wanted to bring Lynn on, and because I just feel that it's a really, really important thing for us to support everybody in the community, and that's including the people who aren't on Facebook. And we've got an awful lot of people who aren't on Facebook, so I just wanted to let everybody know that we are doing a Zoom Well, Lynn is— Lynn and Kate will be running Zoom calls probably once a week, isn't it? Once a week, yeah. Yes, and we're going to confirm with— we will let you know when they are. They're going to be on regular, a regular day, and so that you know. And it's, yeah, it's going to be goldgatherings.com, and it'll be very easy. It's just You put in your password and then we crack on. And it's really kind of— it's just a very light-hearted gathering that you can get help or you can, you know, get somebody to talk to if that's what you need. And I'm there to support you in anything. If you need a question answered, if you need— I mean, Kate and Charlotte Roycroft-Davis and Lynn are not nutritionists, they're not PTs, and they're not therapists, but they are experienced PODders and they know an awful lot about the, the program, and they are there to help, and they're there also to direct you to customer services or to me or wherever else you might need to go next. So yeah, as I said, an added support, and that's why I wanted to introduce you to Lynn. And you've got to excuse me, I've had this— our collie dog has made its way into my room again. Just a Houdini with the door. I don't know how she opens it. So that's why I've been kind of furiously rubbing her down here to keep her quiet. So anyway, I will Well, look, I'll wind up now, and I just wanted to, as I say, launch our Gold Gatherings officially and introduce Lynn. And Kate is not on this video, obviously, but she's there as well in the group, and we will talk to her another time. So that's it. Thank you so much to Kate. Thank you so much to Lynn. For coming on and talking to us and telling her story, because actually it's not the easiest thing to do, to tell your story on video, especially with the lack of confidence that you've had before. So it just shows you how far you've come, doesn't it?

Absolutely.

Wonderful. Great. Lovely. And so on that note, I will say goodbye. And the collie has just walked out the door, which is just so typical Unbelievable. So take care everybody, and yeah, we will be launching Gold Gatherings, and we will tell you all about it via email and etc. Okay, take care.

Bye-bye.