Weight loss success sees Weedon woman train to help others

Andrea Savage, 53, was at the men’s semi-finals in July last year when she walked past another woman in exactly the same outfit.

She said: “She was tall, slim and willowy; she looked a million dollars whereas I felt, and looked like, a sack of potatoes. I was utterly miserable and dejected”

Andrea said she had always struggled with her weight but over the course of the last decade the pounds had really piled on. Her knees began to suffer, often swelling up and she had difficulty bending down to pick things up off the floor.

She had tried to lose weight by herself but just didn’t have the discipline to lose weight effectively.

She began researching various options but when a client of her tuition company recommended the Slimming World plan, Andrea took the plunge and headed to the group in Weedon at the end of July 2015.

“The welcome I received from the moment I walked through the door was phenomenal; everyone was so friendly and the consultant really put me at my ease explaining everything really clearly. I was amazed at how much I could eat each day and still lose weight,” Andrea said.

Within a few weeks, Andrea had managed to lose 10 per cent of her body weight and, more recently, was announced as her group’s “Greatest Loser 2016” having lost the most weight over the course of the year.

She said: “Staying in group each week has taught me so much including how to adapt everyday recipes to make them healthier, yet just as tasty, so it isn’t necessary to prepare and eat different meals from my friends and family. Everyone benefits.”

Andrea no longer has problems with her knees and enjoys going to the gym and swimming. She has also dropped three dress sizes.

She said: “My self-confidence has gone through the roof since losing the weight. All my friends comment on the difference in me. I feel like a new woman.”

Andrea believes so passionately in the plan that she has trained to become a Slimming World consultant and from June 14 will be taking over the Weedon group which runs on Tuesday evenings from 7pm.