Gloucester gran faced doughnut 'nemesis' and lost five stone
A Gloucester woman says doughnuts were her 'nemesis' when trying to lose weight and things had to change when she was in pain from carrying the extra pounds. Now she is more than five stones lighter, the grandmother can look forward to playing toys with her grandson and and enjoys going shopping again.
Sherryl Jennings, 60, from Quedgeley, has said when she was at her heaviest, her weight affected every aspect of her life. Her self- confidence was at an all-time low, she hated having her photo taken and would avoid this at all costs.
Previously, Sherryl used to love going out with her friends on shopping days, however this stopped as she couldn’t face looking in the mirror at herself. She came to find she could only ever buy clothes that fitted her and not the ones that she really loved or wanted to buy, and with it shopping became a chore and not something she wanted to do anymore.
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Getting up play with her grandson was difficult to do because she felt that she had become too slow and it was very uncomfortable. The turning point for Sherryl was when she was so fed up with the pain and her feelings that she knew something had to change.
She saw an advert on Facebook for Slimming World with details of a group near where she lived. |It was time to make a change, so she decided enough was enough and reached out to the weight loss consultant.
Sherryl said: “When I was due to go to my first group, I had worked myself up into such a state I ended up with a migraine and chickened out. My determination didn’t fail me though and I managed to get there the following week despite feeling absolutely terrified, but knew I had to walk through those doors in order to change my life and health.
"The Slimming World consultant, Simon and the group were very welcoming, friendly, caring and helpful, which made me want to go back. Over the weeks I grew in confidence, the group were so encouraging and supportive it became my safe space and Simon and the group were never judgemental.
"At the group we would share stories, recipes and coping strategies. I am forever grateful to them for helping me to get to where I am today.
"Simon has been instrumental in changing the psychological part on how I see food. Its not a crutch I use anymore and my mantra of 'I don’t care' when eating a bag of donuts has gone forever."
Sherry made huge progress almost immediately when starting on the Slimming World programme. She has lost a total of five and a half stone in 20 months.
She said: "I has been struggling to get off the floor and sofa because of my weight. My knees hurt and bending over to fasten up my shoes was difficult too. I have to say, thankfully I have a physical job as a self-employed cleaner and I believe this saved my body from failing me completely.
"My first week I lost six and a half pounds, which was amazing to me and spurred me on. Doughnuts were my nemesis and I would always turn to them when the slightest thing would throw me off plan and my 'I don’t care' mantra would kick in.
"That’s all behind me now and I enjoy food optimising home cooked food and ready-made slimming world meals are always on hand in the freezer for emergencies. I love my homemade Jambalaya, pasta dishes, English breakfasts and curries too which are my husband favourites.
"After losing five and a half stone, my confidence is back and now I’m actually living not just existing. I am happy with my reflection in the mirror and learned to love myself again.
"My recent girly shopping trip was for me and I bought so many new clothes it was a struggle to fit all the bags on the train luggage racks.
"I can now run after my grandson. I love my new life now and I’ve decided to embark on a new career as a Slimming World Consultant.
Sherryl relaunches the Churchdown group on 28 th January at St Johns Church, Churchdown @ 5.15pm & 6.45pm. To find out more you can contact her on 07581 221006 or just pop long and join.