Susie Tucker

WHEN Susie Tucker was younger she was tall and slim, a size 12 to 14. Then at 42 she had a daughter and became a stay-at-home mum. Year after year, the pounds crept on until she reached 15st 10lbs, a size 20 with arthritis and high blood pressure.

A family wedding and the approach of her 60th birthday gave Susan the spur she needed to finally lose weight. Cleverly, she has combined LighterLife with a Slimpod and since she started listening to the Slimpod she says “the weight has just fallen off. I’m in charge and that’s a powerful feeling.”

This is what happened to Susie: “Slowly I found my food cravings changed.  No longer did I want the sweet things or snacks.  I often make cakes to sell and usually taste the batter at some point.  Now I spat it out!  Things were definitely changing.  Weight started dropping off.”

In barely eight months she has lost nearly 56lbs* and is only five pounds short of her target weight. Her next goal is to feel great for a winter sunshine holiday – and she’s bought two bikinis.

  Susie, 60, from Suffolk, tells her story in her own words:

“They say life begins at 40 – well, I met a nice man, married at 41 and had a daughter at 42.  Now I had other priorities and gave up my jobs to be a stay-at-home mum, cooking meals instead of grabbing fruit and yogurt for dinner on my way to the gym.  I was happy in my domestic bubble and didn’t really worry as the pounds slipped on, little by little, over the years.  I felt that I’d had the years concentrating on me; now it was time for my family.  Isn’t that what wives and mothers do?

“Over the years, I have vaguely tried a couple of well known weight loss programmes but they just weren’t for me. I didn’t want to know where to buy cheap Diet Coke; I wanted to know why I over-ate.

“In mid-February of this year, at 15st 10lbs, I decided it was finally time to get serious.  By this time I had high blood pressure, arthritis and took tablets.  It was always hard buying trousers long enough for me as I’m 5ft 10inches tall; now I was a size 20 and struggling to buy nice clothes in normal shops.

“The timing seemed good.  My daughter was now 17 and not so reliant on me.  My 60th was approaching in August and I remembered years ago thinking that I didn’t want to be fat at 50.  Well, I was.  Did I really want the same at 60?!

“I didn’t have or want a party at 50, but one at 60 sounded great.  Maybe a target?  Then my nephew announced his wedding in August – another target, to look good.  Vanity helped.  I wanted people to say I looked good, not think to themselves how much I had let myself go, even if I did look happy.

“Knowing my past failures and stickability problems, I had to ensure success.  I had heard of LighterLife.  How drastic it was.  How hard to keep the pounds off.  I felt it was the end of the line diet-wise.  That or nothing.

“I bought the packs, but wanted to keep the meals as normal as I could, so it wasn’t just living on shakes.  My journey began.

“Then, just by chance, at the same time, I saw an article on something called a Slimpod.  It sounded interesting and definitely worth a try.  I would add it to my armoury.  Days later it was in my possession.

“I wrote down goals.  I wanted to be a size 14 by my party. I wanted to look good at the wedding.  I had until mid-August.  I started listening to Trevor (the voice on the Slimpods) every night as I dropped off to sleep.

“I haven’t worried too much about how it works; I just know that it does.  Without fail I vaguely listened, night after night as I drifted off, and slowly I found my food cravings changed.  No longer did I want the sweet things or snacks.

“I often make cakes to sell and usually taste the batter at some point.  Now I spat it out!  Things were definitely changing.  Weight started dropping off.  I got more energy; my dogs got longer walks.  I danced around my kitchen more.

“Another tool I have found most useful is my FitBit.  Several of the Slimpodders have FitBits and we have weekly challenges along with Facebook chats.  It’s a great group and we are very supportive of one another.  I try and do my 10K steps a day.  This is a huge plus for me; being part of a group with the same aims is so encouraging.  There’s also a weekly live chat on the Slimpod Facebook page.

“I did get to be a size 14 by mid-August.  Many of my clothes are now a size 12.  I very much enjoyed both my recent 60th party and the family wedding.  I felt good, which of course is great for your confidence.  I’ve now lost almost four stones (56lbs).

“However, I do want to lose another five pounds or so, and I have another goal in mind to help me keep on track; in mid-October my husband and I are off to Gran Canaria for a week and I have bought two bikinis which I intend to wear.

“I’m also going to put a photo on the Slimpod Group page.  Now there’s incentive to lose a few pounds more!  I’m in charge and that’s a powerful feeling.  I do know that tonight I will go to sleep to the sound of Trevor telling me that I can do it.  And I will.”