Losing Weight Without Dieting: Anna’s Life-Changing Slimpod Experience

So I'm Sandra Roycroft-Davis, the founder of thinkingslimmer.com and the creator of the SlimPod Programme. And today I've got a lady with me who is very special in our community because she has, she has a very different story to tell. And I just wanted to bring Anna on here. Hello, Anna.

Hi, thank you for having me.

I wanted Anna to come on because I— her story really, really shows how healing or unraveling your relationship with food is so important and how you're, you know, how getting under the bonnet of what's going on is so important to losing weight and keeping it off. And Anna has an amazing amazing story to tell. Um, it's, uh, it's, it's kind of proved to me, Anna, how, um, how SlimPod works in mysterious ways, um, because, um, it, it brings to your mind things that need a little bit of work, um, and, you know, and that can happen at any time in the process, and you start then unraveling things that just release you. Now Charlotte Roycroft-Davis, over to you because let's just talk about what happened with you.

So I think it was particularly when I watched your interview with Lynn that made me think about my family background and the things in that that might have affected my relationship with food and I was already, well, in our family we often say that we all have all got greedy genes, and that makes you feel as if there's very little that you can do about it. And I realized that actually that's a bit of an excuse, and the things in my past mean that food is hugely significant in my life. It's tied up with my self-esteem and rewarding myself with food, feeling entitled to delicious food and fair shares of food, even perhaps the biggest share of food. So I had a kind of a rush of these sorts of revelations after listening to Lynne's interview. And once I discovered all these sorts of things about myself, I wasn't really sure what to do with it, how you, how you put these feelings to bed, whether you can, whether when you know about them you can ignore them, or whether you actually have to take action to move past them. Yeah. So that, that was when I suppose I left that for a little while, and then I was lucky enough to have a conversation with you at the end of my 16 weeks. And yeah, you offered me some really great advice, which I've been putting into practice. Since then.

And you had, um, the, the amazing realization that, um, that enabled you to just, um, reframe, um, the, the dinnertime trigger. And it was— that was very much what you, um, what, what the problem was. You were, um, serving yourself up the same amount of food as your two strapping, two strapping young men and your husband because you felt that you deserved it and, you know, you needed to have the same.

Weren't the same as them.

Totally, totally. But then we kind of reframed that, didn't we? And now you have plates that are beautiful.

Yeah.

And they're smaller. Uh-huh. And they're special.

Yeah. So I, I kind of realized that, um, I was doing some intermittent fasting, so breakfast was off the agenda. And for lunch, I always have the same kind of smoothie. So I was kind of removing myself from lunch with my family as well. And then dinner was just this big problem, and you said to me, you need to remind yourself at every mealtime that your worth is not tied up with food. What about a Post-it note? And I thought, no, Sandra hasn't been to my house. There is no way that a Post-it note would show up in dinnertime chaos. And I had already had my eye on a rather lovely placemat, and I I couldn't quite bring myself to run to a whole set for the whole family, so I thought this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to have a placemat just for me. Amazing. So I have a lovely placemat, Queen Bee. Yes! Oh, that's fantastic. The Queen Bee, yeah, doesn't need as much to eat as all her workers. And I also, I went on eBay and I went shopping and I bought little but beautiful plates. So this is my meal plate and it's about the same size as side plate, and we have side plates and I could have picked a plain side plate but I just wasn't doing it. I knew I could and I wasn't doing it and I don't know why, but now I've got a beautiful plate. You know, it says, it says, "Use me," and it has to be washed by hand. So, oh wow, it's special. And it just, you know, reminds me at every mealtime that I am special, and I'm special enough to eat a portion that's the right size for me. So I've got another one. That's a little tiny one. I had spaghetti meatballs on that one last night. And salad on the bigger one. This one's extraordinary, it's like a Dolly Tea Party plate and it's from the 1950s and it's actually a cake plate and that shows you how much you should be eating when you eat a piece of cake and it's tiny, it really is tiny, so it's like a reminder of what is the sensible portion a 52-year-old woman, I shouldn't be serving myself the same portions as I give my great big boys who are 6 foot 4 both and, um, 20 and 17.

So yeah, and you know what, what you're doing with those beautiful plates, um, is you are reinforcing the fact that, that you're special without actually involving the food. So, you know, and that's what we needed to cut. That was, you know, your self-worth was all wrapped up in the size of, you know, of the food on the plate from obviously stuff that had happened in your past. And that needed, you know, your identity needed to be separated from the food. And so the whole idea was, yes, have something that made you feel special. And you got those plates. I didn't actually suggest that. I suggested a Post-it note.

I'm worth more than a Post-it.

Yes, you really are. So yeah, no, I think I said, you know, whatever will make you feel special and maybe a Post-it note reminding you. But, you know, it is about It's all about what is meaningful for us. And, you know, and what everybody's— everybody's meanings around food are different, and everybody's relationship with food, previous relationship with food, is different and is unique to them. And it was really about working out, you know, okay, how can we take this next step and change that? And, you know, SlimPod does that for a lot of people, helps them with this realization stuff. And now you've cracked that. And so you, that the, one of the reasons that I loved your story in the first place before I, before we looked under the bonnet was the fact that you'd lost weight. And you got into the same suit. That was your target, wasn't it? The same suit that you'd worn 25 years ago for your wedding.

Yeah, so my silver wedding anniversary was the 19th of April this year, and it was actually my second time round on SlimPod. So I did it the first time, and I set myself a goal that I didn't achieve, and I hadn't— it wasn't motivating enough. It was too hard. And when I did it again, I decided quite early on that I would try and get into my wedding outfit for my 25th wedding anniversary. And I did do it, and I took some photographs, and I now realize I had the hat on back to front, which is a shame. But yeah, I was really, really proud. And I considered wearing the suit to have this chat with you today, but it's still just a little bit tight, so I would like to lose a little bit more weight and be able to sit down in it. That would be perfect.

We will have an update when that happens. Fantastic. You know, yeah, I just— it's a very different interview or video or, yeah, whatever we like to call it today, because normally I'm on here, you know, talking about people, how they lost weight, but actually you've lost weight. But it is, I just wanted to focus really on the whole complexity of people's relationship with food and how it isn't just about food and exercise. There is so much more to it, and especially when you are a serial dieter, you know, things just, well, think things, the psychological relationship with food really does take a bit of a battering. And, and so yeah, I just wanted to, to talk to you about your story because it's just fabulous. So look, thank you so much. I wasn't expecting the plates to make a star turn, so that was fantastic. Or that queen bee.

And you know, I love them. I really love them. I had quite a thing about pottery, so you know, it really makes sense for that to be my little signal. Yeah, like you say, it's personalising totally the message.

Totally. It's about what's meaningful for you. And I just love that queen bee as well, because you are— you're still the queen bee at the the dinner table because you've got a placemat to prove it.

So definitely fantastic.

So thank you so much. Um, I know that, uh, I know that this will inspire so many people who have, you know, who need to look under the bonnet as well. Um, and what would be one message that you could share with, uh, with other people, uh, or, you know, slim— your fellow Slim Podders, or even you know, just anybody that's watching this?

Oh goodness. As far as looking under the bonnet goes, just to think really, really hard and not to be frightened by what you see, because it is possible to get past it. So that's the kind of trigger side of things. And just that SlimPod in general such a positive journey. I've really, really benefited in so many different aspects of personal development, really. So, you know, for anyone who's not quite sure if it's working for them, just, you know, hang in there, keep going. It's just so beneficial, not just in losing weight, but in all sorts of different ways.

Thank you, Anna. Thanks so much. And, and thank you for coming on and sharing your story. It's not always easy to do that. Thank you very much.

Not at all. Thank you.