Slimming Stories Around The World

  Episode 68  Could one conversation with the right person completely change the direction of your life? Sometimes it isn't criticism that creates lasting change. Sometimes it's kindness. Phil Kayes had spent years struggling with food. Growing up with free access to his parents' sweet shop, followed by years working and socialising in pubs, unhealthy eating had simply become normal. His friends a...

  Episode 67 | Melanie – From Diet Mentality to Food Freedom and a Love of Running What if the reason you're struggling isn't because you're eating too much... but because you're not eating enough? When Melanie first joined Slimming World, she desperately wanted to lose weight. Monday started full of determination. By Wednesday she was eating a kebab. Sound familiar? For so many of us, years of di...

  Episode 66  Have you convinced yourself that now isn't the right time to change? When life feels uncertain, it's easy to believe that your goals should wait. "I'll start when life settles down." "I'll focus on my health when things get back to normal." But what if there never is a perfect time? As we move closer to spring, nature quietly reminds us that change is always happening. The seasons do...

  Episode 65 Have you ever reached a goal but still struggled to believe what you saw in the mirror? This week's guest, Kirsty Lee, opens up about a side of weight loss that isn't talked about nearly enough. After reducing her dress size from a UK 16/18 to a size 10, Kirsty achieved the healthy lifestyle she had worked so hard for. But despite reaching her target weight, she found herself still se...

    Episode 64 How do you keep moving forward when life asks more of you than you ever thought possible? This week's guest, Renee Gibson, is resilience personified. As a teacher, Renee has always embraced adventure. Every summer holiday brought another opportunity to travel, and by the age of 30 she had visited an incredible 30 countries. Growing up in Adelaide, Australia, with both English and It...

  Episode 63 What happens when one frightening health scare changes the direction of your life forever? This week I'm joined by Andy, whose remarkable health transformation began after experiencing chest pains that forced him to stop and rethink the life he was living. Thankfully, the chest pains didn't require medication or emergency intervention, but they became the wake-up call Andy had needed...

Episode 62  Losing weight doesn't automatically mean you'll love the person looking back at you in the mirror. This week I'm joined by Rebekka (Bex) Moore, who talks openly about body confidence, self-acceptance and the emotional side of weight loss. After reducing her dress size from a UK size 20 to a size 10, Bex realised something many people don't expect. She had always believed that reaching...

  Episode 61 Sometimes all it takes is one brave decision to completely change the direction of your life. Lewis Cowey's story remains one of the most inspiring transformations featured on Slimming Stories. When work took Lewis away from home to the fast-paced city of London, life quickly became centred around convenience. Healthy cooking disappeared, takeaways became the norm and evenings often i...

  Episode 60 What's your biggest obstacle to losing weight? A busy job? Young children? Lack of sleep? Not enough time? For Lucy Ellen, those challenges were only the beginning. As a full-time NHS Nurse Practitioner, a new mum and someone working on Covid wards throughout the pandemic, Lucy faced pressures that most of us could never imagine. Yet despite the uncertainty, exhaustion and emotional d...

  Episode 59 How do you stay hopeful when the world still feels uncertain? Happy New Year! We've made it. We've lived through one of the most challenging years many of us have ever experienced, and while the calendar has changed, life may still feel uncertain. As we step into 2021, the familiar messages of "New Year, New You" are everywhere. But when we're surrounded by constant news updates, lock...

Episode 58  Can one sentence change the direction of your life forever? In Part 1 of Kirsty's story, we explored what it was like growing up wishing to be thin and the emotional impact that years of struggling with weight had on her confidence. In this second part, Kirsty shares the moment that finally gave her the determination to change her life. For years, no one had openly acknowledged her wei...

Episode 57 As children, many of us wished for the latest toys at Christmas. A new bike. A Barbie. A Care Bear. For Kirsty Ingram, her wish was much simpler—and much more heartbreaking. She wished to be thin. In this honest and uplifting first part of Kirsty's story, we talk about growing up feeling different, recognising from a very young age that her body wasn't like everyone else's, and how thos...

  Episode 56 20,000 podcast downloads! To celebrate this incredible milestone, I'm bringing back the very first episode of Slimming Stories—the inspiring story that started it all. If you've ever wondered whether lasting weight loss is really possible, Claire Shaw's journey is proof that it is. Claire lost an astonishing 12 stone following the Slimming World plan and shares the determination, setb...

  Episode 55 | Self-Care Sunday – Beat Christmas Overwhelm Without Burning Yourself Out Does Christmas leave you feeling excited... or completely exhausted before it's even begun? For many of us, Christmas is described as the most wonderful time of the year. But if we're honest, it can also become one of the most overwhelming. The endless shopping lists. The pressure to create the perfect Christma...

Episode 54  What if the thing you've been telling yourself you don't have enough of... is actually the key to changing your life? For many people, losing weight isn't about knowing what to eat. It's about finding the time, energy and headspace to put yourself somewhere on the endless list of priorities. For years, Julie Slaviero found herself in exactly that position. Like so many busy parents, wo...

Episode 53  How do you stay committed to your health when anxiety, criticism and life's challenges threaten to knock you off course? If you've ever worried that one setback could undo all of your progress, this episode is for you. Aaron Snares' transformation is one that many Slimming World members will already recognise. His inspiring story has encouraged thousands of people, but behind the weigh...

Episode 52  How do you prioritise your own health when you're juggling work, motherhood and everything life throws your way? This episode is a re-release of one of my favourite conversations with Victoria Somers—a wonderfully honest guest whose determination proves that lasting weight loss is possible, even during life's busiest seasons. Feeling confident after losing weight is an incredible achie...

Episode 51  Can you lose too much weight? And how do you know when it's time to stop chasing a number on the scales? For most people, reaching their goal weight feels like the finish line. For Lindsey Duffy, it was the beginning of a completely different journey. Living with anxiety meant that even walking through the doors of a local Slimming World group felt overwhelming. Instead, Lindsey chose...

Episode 50 Have you ever felt guilty for eating something you've labelled as "bad"? So many of us grow up hearing that some foods are good and others are bad — and that mindset can follow us for life. In Part Two of this conversation, I'm joined again by Elisha Langridge, who explains how she finally let go of labelling food altogether, and what that shift did for her relationship with eating. Eli...

Episode 49  Have you ever felt trapped in the cycle of being "good" all week, only to undo everything at the weekend? For many people, weight loss isn't about knowing what to eat—it's about changing the relationship they have with food. In Part One of this conversation, I'm joined by Elisha Langridge, who shares how years of dieting, binge eating and negative thoughts around food eventually led he...

Episode 48  How many Mondays have you promised yourself, "This is the week everything changes"... only to find yourself back where you started by Wednesday? If you've ever found yourself caught in that cycle, you're certainly not alone. This week I'm joined by Tom Farrow, who openly shares the hidden battle he faced with food before losing over 10 stone. For Tom, every week began with the very bes...

Episode 47 What would your life look like a year from now if you started today instead of waiting until everything felt perfect? I honestly can't quite believe I'm writing this... Slimming Stories is one year old! When I recorded my very first episode, I was terrified. Like so many of us, I had every reason not to begin. I questioned whether anyone would listen, whether I was good enough and wheth...

Episode 46  Have you ever promised yourself, "I'll be good today"... only to find yourself eating in a way that feels completely out of control? If that sounds familiar, I think this episode will really resonate with you. This week I'm joined by Ashley Owen, who speaks with incredible honesty about living with binge eating and the emotional struggle that so many people experience but rarely talk a...

Episode 45 Can life sometimes give you the space you need to become the person you've always wanted to be? If you've been listening to Slimming Stories for a while, you may remember meeting Tom back in Episode 10. Back then, Tom spoke openly about his weight loss journey, his struggles with Body Dysmorphia, and the difficult place he found himself in emotionally. It was an incredibly honest conver...

Episode 44  Have you ever had one of those moments where you suddenly realise just how far you've come? For Gina Dean, that moment happened in the changing rooms of Marks & Spencer. After picking up a pair of size 8 jeans, she almost didn't bother trying them on. Surely they wouldn't fit? But they did. In fact, they fitted so perfectly that Gina collapsed onto the changing room floor laughing,...