Standing side-by-side, grandparents Jo Beveridge and John Durkin have beaming smiles as they show off their new look. The Lancashire pair say they tucked into takeaways and indulgent meals during lockdown as 'it was all they had to look forward to'.
But as they neared a combined 40st on the scales, the pair became unhappy with how they looked. Jo, 50, and John, 52, swapped the junk food for homemade, low-calorie meals, and have now been named Slimming World's 'couple of the year'.
Accounts executive Jo said: “If I’m honest with myself, I’d been unhappy with my weight ever since our first son Alex was born. When Liam arrived a few years later, it became even more difficult to find time to eat healthily.
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“I’d try to lose weight before a big event or holiday, but it would be a quick fix and I always ended up back where I started as soon as I started eating ‘normally’ again. Lockdown meant that we sought comfort in food when we were away from our family and friends - sometimes having a takeaway or indulgent meal was all we had to look forward to.
“It meant we developed some quite unhealthy habits which were then hard to shake even when we came out of lockdown." Before the Burnley couple joined Slimming World in September 2021, John tipped the scales at 21st 8lbs (136kg) while Jo reached 17st 6lbs (110kg).
Having become fed up at how they looked and felt, out went the supermarket meal deals for lunch and high calorie beer and wine with a takeaway. Instead, they now prepare fresh salads for lunch and enjoy lower calorie food cooked made from scratch.
And when they drink, they now have spirits with a low-calorie mixer and alternate alcohol with zero calorie soft drinks. Jo, who dropped five dress sizes after losing 6st 6lbs, said: "Pre-lockdown our weekends would often involve a trip to the pub with a takeaway after, so we were a bit worried that we wouldn’t be able to enjoy that aspect of our lives anymore.
“However with a few simple swaps we realised we didn’t have to miss out. Our daughter-in-law Jodie had joined Slimming World ahead of her wedding in 2019 and she looked absolutely amazing on the day.
“She raved about all of the delicious food she could eat and how supportive the group was, so we decided to give it a try for ourselves.” The pair went on to start a new fitness routine, which included regular running, and John managed to complete a marathon earlier this year.
Warehouse manager John, who has halved his weight by losing 10st 11lbs, said: "I properly caught the running bug once the weight started coming off. It felt so much easier, and my recovery time was much faster.
"The eating plan is no nonsense, common-sense eating - a world away from the crash diets we’ve done in the past. It’s changed the way we think about food."
Before joining Slimming World, the couple would eat toast or a 'fast food breakfast' in the morning, or no breakfast at all. It would be followed by a meal deal such as a sandwich, crisps and a drink for lunch, before a jar of ready-made sauce with chicken, or crusty bread sandwiches with crisps and a chocolate bar for dinner.
The couple would also feast on crisps, chocolate, biscuits or cake as snacks. Now, they eat cereal with skimmed milk or a cereal bar for breakfast, followed by fresh fruit at mid-morning.
For lunch, they enjoy a tuna and rice salad or jacket potato with backed beans, followed by a meal from one of Slimming World's recipe books for dinner and a Slimming World Hi-Fi bar or a flavoured fat-free yogurt in the evening. John added: "We plan our meals now and eat three balanced meals a day which helps us to stay on track.
"We often batch cook too, so if we don’t fancy cooking or don’t have time, there’s usually something in the freezer. The group support was great too.
"I was a bit nervous at the thought of joining and wasn’t really sure what to expect. I worried I might be the only man there or that I’d be judged for being the biggest in the room. It wasn’t like that at all though.
“After a few weeks, we really started to understand who we were as slimmers. Once we’d nailed that, everything fell into place."
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