A BRIDE has revealed how she lost an incredible four stone in just six months – after buying her wedding dress three sizes too small.
Samantha Parramore, 32, hit her heaviest weight in January this year when she tipped the scales at 17st 5lb.
But desperate to shed the weight in time for her wedding in six months’ time, she knew she had to break her cycle of binge eating.
The recruitment consultant, from Devon, ditched her cookie addiction and bought her wedding dress three sizes too small so she had a goal to aim for.
Within a week she’d lost an incredible 8lb and by the time her wedding came round last month, she had slimmed down to 13st 5lb.
Samantha had struggled with her weight since she was 16 and had visited slimming clubs on and off for years.
She admits she got stuck in a cycle of bingeing on “free foods”, with no idea how to break out of it.
Samantha said: “Cookies were my weakness. I couldn’t just have one, I’d finish the whole packet even though I knew I wasn’t hungry for them.
“I was constantly feeling overwhelmed by this addiction I had with food and I just became obsessed with the number on the scales.”
In January this year, she came home from a slimming meeting feeling deflated and burst into tears.
She said: “I asked my mum and then fiancé, Warwick, ‘Why wasn’t this working for me?'”
“In that moment my mum knew I needed a different approach and she suggested LighterLife.
“She’d been looking into it and thought the combined diet plan and behaviour-change approach was exactly what I needed.”
Samantha went to her local LighterLife Xpress Slimming Club on January 24 and met her mentor Emma.
She said: “The first thing that struck me about the meeting, other than that it was free, was the lack of weight-loss talk, my weight or weight loss wasn’t disclosed, I wasn’t grilled for having a bad week and food wasn’t the focus.
“Instead, after the weigh-ins, the meeting focused around changing our mindset and discussing what was underpinning our relationship with food, something I never had asked myself before.
“With my wedding coming up in June, I had purchased my dream dress three sizes smaller to give myself a visual goal.
With my wedding coming up in June, I had purchased my dream dress three sizes smaller to give myself a visual goal
Samantha Parramore
“I wanted to lose four stone by the wedding and with the LighterLife Total plan I was told I could absolutely reach that goal. Taking a break from ordinary food was revolutionary.
“I didn’t have to prepare or plan my meals which meant for the first time in a long time I wasn’t constantly thinking about food.
“I also really liked LighterLife’s total diet replacement meals – Foodpacks – they’re delicious, especially the Chocolate Mug Cake.
“Who said diet food couldn’t be yummy? I was so surprised how easy it was to follow, too.
“All I had to do was choose four products for the day and I knew I was getting all the nutrition my body needed without the excess calories.”
She continued: “I lost 8lb in my first week. I couldn’t believe it! The rate of weight loss kept me coming back each week and I always felt confident going for my weigh-in.
“I always stayed for the whole meeting because I loved how the room was filled with so much positivity and comradery.
“We recently discussed compliments and how we receive them. It was so interesting how we all resonated with deflecting kind words rather than saying thank you.
“It’s like it’s ingrained in us to follow up a compliment with ‘Oh, this old thing? It’s only from a charity shop’ or ‘Thanks, but I’ve still got a long way to go’.
“With the help of my mentor and the support of my family I found the confidence to feel like a beautiful bride, it’s great to look like one but to truly feel content with yourself is the real goal.
“I felt amazing on our wedding day, wearing they dress which had once seemed like an unattainable dream.
“Dreams really do come true when you work hard and give it your all – I’m so proud of myself.”
Samantha credited the free LighterLife meetings as an “absolute lifeline”.
She added: “I learnt so much about myself. It’s so comforting to know you’re not alone and I now find myself encouraging others to come along because LighterLife Xpress has worked so well for me.
“Coming from someone who’s tried every diet out there, that’s really saying something.”
For more information on LighterLife’s free Xpress meetings visit lighterlife.com
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