Will you ditch sugar for 70 days to celebrate the NHS’s birthday?

JUST over a year ago, I launched my Slimpod programme at Tameside hospital in Manchester with high hopes that it would spark off an eating revolution in the NHS. It has been more successful than I dreamed – and next week, to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS, the hospital is issuing a challenge to the 250,000 people it serves to Ditch Sugar.

I’m very excited because I’ll be speaking at a symposium in Manchester next week to explain how the Slimpod programme has helped 100 Tameside staff including doctors and nurses to change their eating habits with dramatic results.

I’ll be highlighting the success stories of two of our own long-standing Slimpodders, Darin McCloud and Sammie Axton, and I’m delighted Sammie will be in the audience as living proof of what a Slimpod can do.

Also there will one of the 20 Tameside nurses who have recently gone on the Slimpod programme as part of the Channel 4 series How To Lose Weight Well.

Sarah Moody is a Gastroenterology Nurse Specialist and lives in Stalybridge with her husband and dog. She’s 46 and weighs almost 19 stones and wants to lose six.

Tameside nurse Sarah Moody, left, with colleagues Angela and Elaine

She says: “I’ve been there so many times. I lose weight only to pile it back on again. I like how I look at 13 stones and my body feels best at that weight. I love a glass of wine after work. This prompts me to eat more. Disaster.”

Leading experts will explain to the 100-strong audience the dangers of sugar in our diets and how we can adopt a sugar-free diet and lifestyle. Among the speakers will be leading cardiologist, health campaigner and author Dr Aseem Malholtra, whose book The Pioppi Diet I am constantly recommending to people.

Will you ditch sugar for 70 days?

Working with the community newspaper and radio station, Tameside hospital will issue a 70-day sugar free challenge – one day for every year of the NHS – a call to arms to the people and organisations of Tameside and Glossop to cut down on sugar and ultra-processed foods with an aim to rapidly improve their health and weight.

Through the borough’s network of over 1,000 voluntary organisations and charities, and local schools and GP surgeries, it will offer advice and support, simple tips and suggestions on healthy alternatives.

I’d love all of you to join the 70-day challenge too. All you have to do is commit right now to seriously reducing the amount of sugar you consume – not just in your tea and coffee but also in sweets, cakes, chocolate, biscuits and importantly, in processed foods such as takeaways and ready meals.

I’m confident you’ll find that after a very short time you’ll be able to Ditch Sugar completely. You’ll be surprised how rapidly the body responds to sugar-reduced eating and how much more energy you have.

Leave a comment below to tell me you’re accepting the challenge – and keep posting regular updates.

By the way, there are still a few tickets available for the symposium at Hyde Town Hall, Manchester, on Wednesday July 4 from 12.30 to 3.30. You can get a ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ditch-sugar-tickets-46679745375

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