Success stories

Joanna achieves a 5 stone loss with Low Carb plan!

Catherine Matthews

Joanna has a very philosophical view of weight loss. She believes that someone will only successfully lose weight if they are mentally ready to take on the demands of a diet. In her case this was true, she reached a point where she was no longer comfortable in her own skin – literally, and decided the time was right to achieve a shape that she was happy with.

“I believe losing weight is a psychological thing, unless you have a medical condition of course. It’s like stopping smoking or changing a job. You need to be ready and make a conscious decision to do it.”

Although Joanna had great motivation to lose weight she felt the support our online service could provide her with would further increase her rate of success.

“I needed encouragement and liked the idea of having a chart to track my progress. This helped me to focus on my goal each week. When you have your weight written down in front of you on a chart you can not deny it!”

She weighed in at 215 lbs when she joined the Low Carb plan and her BMI meant she was categorised as obese. After only 7 months she lost a tremendous 5 stone and now weighs a healthy 146 lbs. Her newly reduced BMI means she is no longer among the statistics outlining the current obesity epidemic the UK is experiencing.

Although Joanna did not have a bad diet before joining the Low Carb plan she admits that she was less than vigilant about her portion sizes.

Like so many women in their late twenties, she had become more sedentary due to the lifestyle she led but she failed to reflect this reduction in energy expenditure with any dietary changes.

“I thought I ate healthily. We were always eating lots of vegetables, wholegrain rice and organic home cooked produce, but I also ate potatoes and drank beer or had an ice cream. When your weight gain goes as far as mine you have to take drastic measures to lose it. It was a vicious circle. Not enough people realise that your metabolism changes when you are an adult and that you do not need as much food as an active teenager does!”

As a larger lady Joanna was self conscious about how she looked in clothes and she was somewhat envious of the clothes women with smaller frames could wear.

“I went to a wedding a few weeks before joining the plan, all the girls were in gorgeous dresses and looked really pretty.”

The wedding acted as a type of wake up call to Joanna, she was no longer willing to settle for clothes that made her feel frumpy and dull.

“I love shopping but because I was overweight I could not go into all the cool high street stores like Topshop, Miss Sixty not to mention having to avoid great jean brands like Replay or Wrangler. I could not really wear high heels as I found them really uncomfortable.”

“There is no going back now! I have got rid of all my big clothes and everything fits perfectly."

With her new slim size 10 figure she no longer needs to feel embarrassed about the clothes she wears! Along with gaining a new wardrobe she developed confidence and a renewed vitality for life that was lacking before.

“Losing weight has truly changed my life. I look and feel 10 years younger. As soon as I lost weight I sold all my old clothes on the internet and used most of the money earned to get new outfits. Now I feel attractive I tend to socialise and go out with my husband a lot more.”

As well as following the meal plans Joanna found exercise was a great way of improving her weight loss and muscular tone. She also was delighted to note her energy levels improved.

“Exercise is extremely important to me. First of all it gives me plenty of energy for the day and it helps me burn more calories because of the muscles that I have developed. I used to have back pain and got tired really quickly. My daughter joins in the morning exercises so I think I am giving her a good example, my husband also rides his bike to work and back. The entire family has become really healthy.”

Although Joanna encountered a few hurdles at the beginning of her plan due to people not understanding the restrictive nature of a low carb plan she was soon overwhelmed with support.

“At the beginning family and friends tried to make me eat things that I was not supposed to. Now my husband is delighted with me, everyone praises my progress and gives me compliments. When I go to dinners they all make sure that they have appropriate food like a roast where I just eat the chicken and broccoli.”

If you are not convinced about the benefits of weight loss Joanna explains just what it has meant to her.

“Although embarking on a diet is a personal choice if you are overweight I would advise it. There is nothing good about the mood swings, headaches, backaches and all the other side effects that being overweight or obese brings. It is important to me that I am healthy and giving my daughter a great example. I want her to feel proud of me!”