Slimming World success for Crawley woman as she wants to inspire others to achieve their New Year weight goals

Lydia Mulford, 28, wanted to lose weight for her wedding with her fiancee Daniel Keating so she could pick the perfect wedding dress for the ceremony.

Although she was presented with challenges as everybody did over lockdown, Lydia stuck it out and reduced her start weight from 9 stone 13 lb to her goal weight of 8 stone 10 lb in a matter of months.

Now she wants to inspire others to replicate her success and encourages others to join their local Slimming World group.

Miss Mulford said: “It was a little while ago now since I achieved my goal weight. It is fantastic that I’ve achieved my goal weight, if someone had told me back then that I would lose so much weight I wouldn’t have believed them.

“I started Slimming World after I got engaged. It was something I always wanted to do and I couldn’t have done it without Slimming World.

“I was inspired to lose weight after my engagement. I wanted to do it before then as I tried to lose weight myself but it was hard to find motivation.

“My engagement gave me the push I needed. I didn’t know when the wedding was but I knew I didn’t want to be this weight when I got married.

“In my engagement photos I didn’t like the way I looked as I was bigger than I’ve ever been.

“The hurdle I found with my weight loss was Lockdown. I work as a dental nurse, so I was in full PPE and we weren’t allowed to eat on our shifts. So I went home and wanted to eat everything I could get my hands on.

“That’s what made me put quite a lot of weight on. It was difficult to fit dieting around an extreme working environment.

“Slimming World groups are better than videos as there is more motivation. The benefit of group is that there is no judgement and everybody is in the same boat, so people understand the struggles of losing weight.

“In group you have to be weighed but you also get access to tips, ideas, recipes and meal plans.

“Joining Slimming World is easier than people think. It doesn’t feel like a diet but a more healthy way of life.

“I didn’t have to give up on many foods as you can swap them. For example, white bread for wholemeal bread. You get a sin count when you are dieting, so you don’t have to give up on your favourite foods entirely.

“Exercise is a part of your Slimming World journey, but it doesn’t have to be intense. I went on walks to my local park as exercise.

“My future goals are to maintain my goal weight until my wedding day in August.

“My advice to anybody wanting to join Slimming World is to go along to your local group and meet the friendly advisors who are supportive and non-judgmental.”

Christopher Knowles, who runs Slimming World groups around Crawley said:”Our group in Bewbush has grown so much that we are opening again on Wednesday 5th Jan with a new double session at 5:30pm and 7:30pm .”

If you would like to share your weight loss journey with us, please email us at [email protected]