Like Helen, let your Slimpod unlock the secret of the Power Within

I’VE been so blessed over the past week to have the privilege to watch lots and lots of videos that Slimpodders have sent me. Believe me, I’ve had a few teary evenings because it’s the most amazing feeling seeing the astonishing difference in people in the space of just seven days.

We all have a very special power within our minds and  all we really need is the key that will unlock it.

Over the years I’ve noticed that the first big step for most people is making a decision to do something about their weight.  They’ve often had a long journey of failure and set-backs and they really don’t start with much enthusiasm.

Then when they do get going and make the decision to take action,  confidence and self-esteem levels can be at their absolute lowest and the thought of sharing their journey on video would most probably be the last thing on their mind!

However, one of the most powerful ways to motivate yourself to reach your goals is to share your daily progress and also witness how other people are getting on.

Seeing how others who started off like you have progressed, overcome obstacles and changed their lives is a powerful emotional incentive.

That’s one of the reasons I started our Video of the Week challenge. And I know from the many comments I’ve had that it’s really paying off for so many people.

I’m really grateful to lovely Helen Martin, first winner of my Video of the Week award, for allowing me to share two of her videos with you. She’s only been on the Slimpod programme for two weeks and already she’s noticing wonderful differences.

In the first video, as you’ll see, she was very emotional about her weight and the way she felt about herself. In the second video, which she shot the next day, she’s very happy about the way her attitude to food is changing.

 

By the end of the week Helen was even happier and more confident – so much so that she’s talking about becoming a Zumba instructor! Amazing!

Helen says she now has a different mindset and has  learned an important lesson about herself by completing her daily video blogs. “It’s not just about losing weight, it’s also about gaining self-respect,” she says.

“We should be kinder about ourselves, learn to love ourselves more for who we are. Life is for enjoying, not for blaming ourselves.”

Isn’t that so true? I’m sure Helen is going to inspire many, many people with her success.

So it will be wonderful if lots more of you can share daily videos in Slimpod Club or with a friend if you’re not in the group.

Imagine if one person saw your progress and used that to take action to change their life. How would that make you feel?

Then imagine if hundreds of people saw that and took action. How would that make you feel??

Inspiring others is the one of the most rewarding feelings and is one that can then be used to encourage you even further than just your physical and emotional journey.

Please leave a comment below to let me know about your video diary and to tell me what you think about Helen’s success.

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70-day challenge will keep you on track through the summer

JULY and August can be really difficult when you’re trying to eat healthily and lose weight – because these months are full of temptations and distractions. So I’ve been giving a lot of thought about how I can help you stay on track.

Last week I told you I’d been speaking at a conference in Manchester to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS, where a 70-day Ditch Sugar challenge was issued to 250,000 people in Tameside. One of my fellow speakers was the leading cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, an expert on healthy sugar-free eating, and as we chatted during a break I had a light bulb moment…

Why not issue a similar challenge to all my Slimpodders and readers of my blog! So that’s what I did and here’s the details of what you have to do.

If you’ve been listening to your pods for a few weeks or more, chances are you’re already being nudged away from sweet things. But you’ll no doubt be grateful for some extra motivation and guidance.

If you’re not on my Slimpod programme, here’s your chance to experience the remarkable benefits of healthy eating.

Towards the end of this blog I’ll be giving you a link to an article about the foods that can give your body an amazing boost as well as helping you to be in control.

Aseem and I at the conference

But first here’s how the 70-day Ditch Sugar challenge can give you extra motivation to keep you on track through the summer.

A project I’m doing with the Channel 4 programme How To Lose Weight Well has got the staff at Tameside hospital recording a short video each day and uploading it to their own private FB group.

This was originally so the programme’s producers of the programme could track progress but it’s had a whole host of other benefits too which have been quite remarkable.

One thing it has done is hold the group members accountable. They’ve really got into the habit of doing their daily video because it helps them to reflect on the positive things in the day.

Crucially, they can hear themselves speaking the positives out loud and just like seeing, hearing is believing. This really is fabulous for self-esteem.

One of the best things is it helps you to focus on the process NOT the scales. As you know, it’s the repetition of small daily actions which creates the results.

And finally, it’s truly inspiring for the people watching and creates a lovely positive effect all round!

So to help you be truly successful and to help motivate you during the 70 days of the Ditch Sugar challenge, four members of staff at Tameside hospital have agreed to lead the challenge in our very own Slimpod Club group.

They’ve been posting videos for the past four weeks in their Channel 4 group so they’ll lead by example by posting in Slimpod Club and I know they inspire you with their success so far!

Here’s all you have to do:

STEP ONE

Make a short video every day on your phone (it doesn’t have to be too long!) telling everyone about your positives, how you’re cutting down on sugar and what healthier eating is doing for you.

STEP TWO

Post your video up in Slimpod Club if you’re a member. Add the hashtag #70daychallenge

STEP THREE

Sit back and bask in the praise you’re bound to get from other Slimpodders!

I can’t wait to see all your videos. It should be great fun – and hugely valuable.

Now, as promised, here’s some expert guidance from Dr Malhotra’s ground-breaking book The Pioppi Diet, which I’m always raving about.

The simplest way to ditch sugar is to stop buying processed food such as ready meals, takeaways, things in tins and packets.

Buy fresh food and cook it yourself so there’s no danger of hidden sugar creeping in, which is the real danger with non-fresh food.

You might be surprised how good you feel after just a day or two on healthier food because it creates a virtuous circle in your body and your mind.

Once you start to get your buzz from eating fish, lean meat and vegetables instead of pizza, pasta and curries it just becomes easier and easier to keep up the good work for yourself and your family.

Ten Great Foods To Boost Your Healthy Lifestyle

Do leave a comment below this blog to let me know how your videos are coming along. And how your healthier eating is going this summer.

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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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Dare to believe like Sammie and you really can achieve anything

INSPIRING can be a very over-used word but there’s no other way to describe what Sammie Axton has achieved and the way she has turned her life around. Six years ago, in her own words, Sammie was “a rather large lady” who’d tried every diet under the sun and had convinced herself that as nothing had worked she was condemned to a middle age of unhappiness. Boy was she wrong!

After losing 70 lbs and keeping it off ever since, she suddenly discovered she had a real taste for life. She took up karate to get herself fit enough to keep up with her young son Bobby – and as the weight stayed off, Sammie’s strength and ability went through the roof.

Last week she won a bronze medal in her class at the world karate championships. That’s her above in her white karate gear.

That’s an amazing achievement for a 50-year-old mum who once thought her greatest physical achievement was trying to chase her son round the park.

Sammie, from Denton in Manchester, is such an amazing lady that I asked her to describe how she felt about winning her medal.

“When we went to the trials I really was going as support for Bobby but joined in and worked hard as always. At the end when they were calling out the names for the ones who were chosen, I sat down with the parents not even thinking my name would be called.

Bobby shows off mum’s medal

“I was waiting to hear Bobby’s name called and when it was I was so proud. Then my name was called but I just sat there and thought they were calling someone else. They had to call me twice before I realised it really was me.

“I was shocked, amazed and proud. I couldn’t believe it. I got up and collected my badges and sat with my squad and my son – it was an amazing feeling.

“While we had our pictures taken all sorts of stuff was running through my head – how, why can I do this? And yes I can, I’ve trained hard I love my sport, yes I can do this.

“Never in a million years did I expect a medal – I was there to support Bobs. When I stood on that podium and accepted my medal I felt like all my hard work had paid off.

“I’m here at the world championships and this woman I’ve become is amazing and worthy. I realised my journey to completely re-invent myself wasn’t over, it’s just beginning.

“The pride for my country, for my squad, for my child, for my club and for myself was overwhelming. The opening ceremony was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

“I could never in my wildest dreams see myself at the age of 50 – a once rather large lady – walking through with all these different countries. And yet I was there, right in the middle of it all. Wow! Just wow.”

Aren’t those just the most emotional and wonderful words you’ve ever read?

 

Sammie before…

…and after

Sammie never dared to believe she could achieve this. Like so many overweight people, she couldn’t see past the limitations of the scales and her waistline.

But it IS possible to turn your life around. Sammie is living proof of what can be achieved.

What could YOU do if you saw past your self-doubt and dared to dream?  Let me know below!

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Why that ‘healthy’ baked potato is actually a sugar timebomb!

I HAVE to admit that sometimes the research papers I read really surprise me. Recently I discovered that it’s now been proved that type 2 diabetes can be reversed in as little as three weeks. Not by some new wonderdrug but by something much, much more simple: healthy eating and a little bit of exercise.

For those people who are on the verge of diabetes, the findings are even more exciting. Professor James Barnard at UCLA, who has written more than 200 studies on the relationship between lifestyle habits and chronic disease, recently wrote: “There is much we can do with a healthy lifestyle alone, no medications needed, to prevent diabetes.”

In fact, a healthy lifestyle where you consistently eat good food has proven more effective than medication in staving off diabetes.

So at the start of Diabetes Week, I delved into the research into what kinds of foods are healthiest for us. You won’t be surprised to know the answer is whole foods that are naturally rich in fibre and low in fats and sugars and haven’t been refined in a factory.

That means vegetables, whole fruits (not juices), whole grains, legumes such as peas and beans, non-fat dairy products, and lean meat such as fish and skinless chicken breast.

What will surprise you though is research I discovered that shows the amazing way common carbohydrate foods that we think are healthy contain a lot of glucose which seriously affects our blood sugar levels.

For example, how many people trying to lose weight eat a white baked potato? In fact, a baked potato is converted by the body into the equivalent of eight teaspoons of sugar!

The biggest offender is boiled basmati rice – a 150 gram serving converts into 10 teaspoons of sugar. Boiled sweetcorn converts to seven teaspoons, spaghetti converts to just under seven and a banana converts to almost six.

So what foods convert to the smallest amounts of sugar? According to Dr Aseem Malhotra in his ground-breaking book The Pioppi Diet, a raw apple converts to just over two teaspoons, a helping of frozen peas to just over one teaspoon and boiled broccoli to 0.2 teaspoons. Best of all are eggs – which don’t convert to sugar at all.

The conclusion, backed by worldwide medical research, is that eating hardly any processed carbs produces important health benefits – and also helps you to lose weight very effectively. Remember, the key to positive wellbeing is consistent healthy eating.

By the way, if you’re wondering what Pioppi means, it’s a village in Italy where the healthy lifestyle of natural, unprocessed food means people live active, disease-free lives well into their nineties. The oldest inhabitant is 107 and the community is called The Village Where People Forget To Die!

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Fish curry in coconut milk – healthy home-made ‘takeaway’

FRIDAY night is takeaway night for many of us – but unless you’re really careful, what you order can be a bit of a threat to your waistline! So this week Simon Smith, our NHS hospital superchef, has come up with a delicious alternative which is wonderfully healthy. “You can cook it in about 20 minutes and you’ll find that not only is it healthy, it leaves you feeling good, too,” he says.

“Cooking in coconut milk adds a whole new dimension to a curry and brings out the full flavour of the fish. By the way, you don’t have to have rice with a curry – there’s plenty of fresh veg in this dish and the protein in the fish will leave you feeling satisfied. Try a curry with a side salad like they do in Thailand!”

Simon is head chef at Tameside hospital in Manchester, where the staff love his Slimpod Specials.

 

Fish curry in coconut milk

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sesame seed oil

1 red onion, sliced

2 red peppers, sliced

50g mangetout

50g sugar snap peas

1 courgette, cut into batons

4 fillets of white fish

600 ml coconut milk (tinned)

3 teaspoons fish sauce

juice and rind of 2 limes

4 tbsp massaman curry paste (found in most supermarkets)

Large handful coriander leaves

Basmati rice to serve four (small helpings!)

Method

Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan.

Once hot, fry the onions for 2 minutes and then add the red pepper and cook until onions have gone slightly brown.

Add the curry paste and stir to coat the pepper and onions. Season to taste.

Add the coconut milk and stir. Add the lime juice, and fish sauce, stir well.

Place the fish fillets into the sauce flesh side down, and scatter the rest of the vegetables around the pan.

Poach the fish for 5 minutes and then turn over so that the skin is facing the pan.

Cook for a further 5 minutes or until the flesh is fully cooked – flesh becomes flaky and glistens.

Serve with fresh coriander leaves and small helpings of basmati rice – leave out the rice if you’re into no-carbs or low-carbs. Try a side salad instead.

Please let Simon know what you think of this super dish by leaving a comment below. He loves reading them all!

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Another hospital changes over to healthier Slimpod Special meals!

IT’S really well documented how our NHS hospitals need to clean up their act over the food and drink they provide to patients and staff.  NHS Chief Exec Simon Stevens has issued directives to his managers to reduce sugar and focus on the health of the staff. Last year, with our help, Tameside hospital in Manchester did something radically different and started a programme to change the eating behaviour of the staff.

They had magical results and now Fairfield Hospital in Bury has become the second hospital to start the Slimpod programme.

I’m thrilled that 100 nurses and staff have joined the Slimpod family in the past week as part of my mission to make the nation healthier and happier! So a big welcome to everyone.

Many of you will know it’s long been my dream to put the Slimpod programme to work in the NHS, where its potential for helping people transform their lives is enormous.

Now, hospital by hospital, that dream is coming true.

What’s most exciting is that Fairfield is going to follow the lead set by Tameside and change the food served in its restaurant, cutting down (possibly cutting out one day) sugary snacks and desserts and providing super-healthy Slimpod Specials for lunch.

This is the real key to tackling the obesity crisis. Change the food environment and the behavioural change needed to make healthy eating a permanent habit becomes so much easier.

One thing that alarmed me when I met the lovely people at Fairfield was how many of them had been on more than one diet and had lost the same two stone over and over again. They were bigger than they’d ever been.

Coincidentally, weight loss and the NHS  was also the subject of a  fascinating debate in Slimpod Club last week which raised some crucial points.

It was prompted by a post from Stephen D, who’d watched Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s TV programme Britain’s Fat Fight and wrote: “It was great to see what he is doing to tackle obesity, but one thing stood out for me; it was when he was working with GPs and putting scales in the surgery to help initiate the discussions about weight.

“Firstly I’m not sure this is the answer as per the advice from Slimpod (ditch the scales), but the main thing I took issue with was GPs saying a commercial weight loss programme like Weightwatchers or Slimming World is proven to be the best way to lose weight.

“I totally disagree and don’t think this should have been stated as fact on TV. We all know these don’t work in the long term. Anyone else agree?”

Wow! The comments flooded in, almost all backing Stephen’s point of view. Here’s just a tiny selection:

Lana wrote: “Totally agree! I also think people need to recognise that being overweight is more complex then just ‘you are a stupid person who doesn’t know what to eat.’ This is where Slimpod is great, it tackles self-esteem and emphasises health rather than a number on a scale.”

Karen wrote: “The problem we have in the Western world is grazing … breakfast, snack, lunch, snack etc . Our insulin levels never have the chance to lower. I am not just doing Slimpod. I am combining it with intermittent fasting and low carb.”

Tony wrote: “My close friend has lost 2.5 stone with SW and kept it off for 3 years. She’s a success story. But for everyone like her, I know dozens more who (including myself in the past) lose, gain, return, lose, gain, return…for years.

“That’s not good, unless you work for SW or WW! So much money spent on these organisations, chasing a dream. The other objection I have to SW, is that the friend still talks about milk, for example, as healthy A and cereal as healthy B.

“For goodness sakes, they’re cereal and milk! Food!!! And as for syns…that makes me so angry. How can anyone actually have a normal healthy attitude towards food if they don’t call it by it’s real name!

“And worse, labelling stuff as full of syns. Who can fail to see negative connotations in that??? And the altered spelling is no excuse! Makes my blood boil!!”

Carol wrote: “Some doctor’s surgeries actually give free Slimming World to overweight patients. Unfortunately it doesn’t help people to change their lifestyle.”

That last point sums up the work I’m doing with the NHS. Losing weight and keeping it off is all about lifestyle change.

The lovely staff at Fairfield and Tameside are really lucky that their employers recognise the important role management has to play by creating a healthier food environment.

Do please leave a comment below as I’d love to know what everyone thinks about the great debate that Stephen has sparked off.

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