“LOSING weight is not just watching what we eat, psychology has to play a huge part too.” So says Helen Davies, a Slimming World woman of the year who lost five stone on their eating plan but knew that only a change in her mindset would help stop her weight going up and down like a yo-yo.

Since being on a Slimpod Helen, from South Wales, has seen a remarkable difference. “I feel like I’ve been reborn. I’m 53 and I feel like I’m 28 again. It’s an amazing feeling.

“The Slimpod has changed my world in the most profound way – it has changed the way I work, the way I function, the way I live, the way I feel about myself.”

  I’m really grateful to Helen for sharing her story about losing weight with you because she’s a perfect example of how a Slimpod makes exhilarating changes to your outlook. Here’s Helen’s story in her own words:

“I was slim in my teens and twenties but I never felt like I was really a slim person – so I’ve always been on and off diets losing weight then putting it on again. The way it worked was binge, starve, diet…then I’d start all over again once the weight I’d lost had gone back on.

“I knew this couldn’t go on any longer the day I realised I was so fat I couldn’t even lay flat in bed. That day I said to myself this has got to change.

“So I joined Slimming World to get me off the blocks. I didn’t attend all the time because I found I was losing weight even when I didn’t turn up, and I tried to analyse how think people think and behave. Even though I’d lost almost five stone I still realised that psychology had to play a huge part in weight loss, not just watching what we eat.

“One of my mantras was ‘I think like a slim person now’ and when I discovered Thinking Slimmer in a newspaper – ping! It just fitted in. From the very first time I listened to a Slimpod I felt immediate changes. The CD arrived on our wedding anniversary and that evening we were going out for a meal, so I had a quick listen first.

  “I felt very excited as I picked my usual favourites off the menu – prawn cocktail followed by fish and chips. About a third of the way through the main course I put my knife and fork down, looked at the plate and thought: ‘I feel full – what’s going on?’ I couldn’t believe it. The fish and chips at that restaurant was my favourite dish on the menu, it was cooked to perfection, and yet I let most of it on my plate.

“I was really feeling my full signal and as the weeks went on I found I was hearing it loud and clear even in social situations, which never used to happen when I was dieting.

“Soon I found I was only eating when I was hungry, not between meals. I started to eat less and cut back hugely on the amount of chocolate I was eating. Now I eat a small packet of pretsels or fruit instead and there is no urge to eat anything else.

“When I started Slimming World I weighed 17st 13lbs and I wouldn’t let them tell me my weight after that until I had lost two stone. I’m only 5ft 4in and my goal was to be a size 10-12.

  “I did well on Slimming World – I was chosen as woman of the year by my local branch in January 2013 – but the problem I found at the meetings was that I was mixing with food and diet fanatics and I just had to get away from that.

“I started listening to the Slimpod on June 1, 2013, and the people at Slimming World weren’t very impressed. But I knew this was what was going to be best for me. I was on a weight loss journey in my head on Slimming World but I knew I needed the Slimpod’s help to keep it all happening for me.

“I don’t weigh myself any more because it used to make me miserable and create pressure, and since I stopped Slimming World in the summer my weight has stabilised. To be able to maintain a steady weight was unheard of for me. Now my clothes tell me if I need to watch myself a little and if things tighten up a little and I need to start losing weight I just listen to another burst of Slimpod again.

“Today I appreciate my size rather than constantly feeling it is something I need to change. My confidence is high and I have a balanced view of how I should look, which is incredibly exciting for me.”

What’s your view on the importance of your mindset when you’re losing weight? Leave a comment below, I love reading your views.