Healthy_Food_Guide_UK_-_January_2020

36 HEALTHY FOOD GUIDEJANUARY 2020

❛I stopped

needing sugary

food for comfort❜

LAURA-BETHIVES, 31

HEIGHT5ft 8in (173cm)

Weight-loss star

Laura-Beth,anNHSnursefromManchester,haslostover70lb

by altering her mindset with the help of her smartphone

AFTER

WEIGHT10st4lb(65.3kg)

WAIST29in(74cm)

BMI 22

DRESS SIZE 10

BEFORE

WEIGHT15st8lb(98.9kg)

WAIST39in(100cm)

BMI 33

DRESS SIZE 18

S

INCEMYteenageyears,I’dbeen

a serialdieter.SeveraltimesI

managedtoloseweight,butthen

I’dputit allbackonagain– andmore.I

managedtogettoa size 12 a fewyears

ago,butI wassuchanemotionaleater

thattheweightjustwentbackon.

I hada verysweettoothand foodwas

mycomfort.I couldeasilyeata family-

sizebarofDairyMilkbymyself.If you

sawmeshoppingtherewouldbe

nothinghealthyinmytrolley– just

sweettreatslikechocolateandcake.

I’ma surgicalassistantatTameside

HospitalinManchesterandI reliedon

eatingsweetstuffnon-stoptokeepme

going.I wouldsnackmywaythrough

mydayatworkasmymealsweren’t

satisfying.Ona typicaldayI’dhave

cerealortoastwithjamforbreakfast,

thenbylunchtimeI’dbestarvingbut

onlyhavetimetograba sandwich

orsomebread.Dinnerwasusually

carb-heavy– apizzaorspaghetti

bolognese.I worklonghours,so

I’drelyonreadymeals,orI’dgethome

andbetootiredtocook so I’d just

ordera takeaway.

Tacklingemotionaleating

InJunelastyear,researchersfromthe

TVprogrammeHowtoLoseWeight

Wellgotincontactwithmyhospital

becausetheywerelookingfornursesto

takepartina weight-lossexperiment.

A fewofmycolleagueswereupfor

it and I thought I’d join in, hoping that

thepressureofappearingonTVto

showofftheresultswouldmakeme

morelikelytostick to whatever plan

theygaveme.

I wasintriguedtodiscoverit wasn’t

a dietbuta programme,called

Slimpod,designedtochangeyour

behaviourtowardsfoodandtakethe

emotionsoutofeating.Youdownload

anapptoyourphoneandit givesyoua

set of nine-minute voice recordings to

listentoeachday and whenever you

needthem.

KnowingI wasanemotionaleater,I

waskeentogiveit a go.Fromthestart,

it waslikea switchhadflickedinmy

head.I’dlistentoa recordingbefore

bedandthefirstfewmorningswhenI

wokeupI noticeda difference.I wasn’t

cravingthefoodsI normallywould.

TheSlimpodrecordingsworka bit

like hypnosis. You can listen to them or