Nurse loses 5st and keeps it off with a trick that takes just 9 minutes a day
A NURSE yo-yo dieted for years but always ended up back at square one.
But Laura-Beth Ives, 32, was able to shed five stone in just six months after implementing a simple trick that took her only nine minutes a day.
It transformed her relationship to food and exercise, ensuring she’d be able to stick to her healthy habits long-term without resorting to hack diets.
The nurse from Tameside, Greater Manchester, tried all sorts of ways to lose weight after having her son five years ago, with little success.
But then she decided to participate in a revolutionary weight loss programme being trialled at the hospital she works at.
The project saw 100 hospital staff from Tameside Hospital – including Laura-Beth – take part in a 12-week challenge, whose aim was to help them shed a few pounds.
It was done through the Slimpod app, which uses neuroscience techniques to change the way people think and feel about food – all it takes in nine minutes each day.
The app is said to help users instinctively make healthier choices and move more, giving them agency in their weight loss journey.
The programme includes video coaching and a unique voice recording that you listen to for just nine minutes a day, which ‘gently retrains the brain to change the way you think and feel about food and yourself’, the Mirror reported.
Laura-Beth was astounded at the progress she made in just six months.
Using the app, she was able to go from 15 and a half stone to 10 and now fits into a size 10 dress size, down from an 18.
The mum-of-one said: “Several times I’ve lost weight but put it all back on, and more. I managed to get to a size 12 a few years ago but was such an emotional eater that the weight just went back on – I could easily eat a full big bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and would snack on sweet stuff non-stop at work to keep me going.”
Even more radical than her weight loss is the change in her relationship to food.
Laura-Beth felt like ‘switch’ has flicked in her head, leading her to crave less sugary food for comfort and reach for healthier food instead – not out of a feeling of necessity.
“I’m feeling great – far more positive, confident and healthier. I don’t get out of breath any more and don’t worry about not fitting in my uniform,” she said.
She now ‘loves’ exercising three times a week – and says she’s sure her exercising and eating habits are ‘here to stay’ as they’ve become ‘automatic’.
Slimpod founder Sandra Roycroft-Davis – a Harley Street weight loss specialist – has used the technique on hundreds of NHS workers across the country.
“She explained the app’s premise: “Where you used to get pleasure from unhealthy food and sugary snacks, your brain starts learning how to feel good when you eat healthy food and take exercise instead. Slimpod helps you lose weight without depriving yourself and does what diets can’t.
“The focus is on changing your behaviour towards food and importantly, taking the emotion out of eating. By empowering you to control what you eat and motivating you to be more active, you lose weight without even having to think about it.”
As well as following the Slimpod programme, staff at Tameside Hospital who participated in the project opted for healthy menu choices made available in the hospital restaurant.
A whopping 87 per cent of participants lost weight over the three-month project and 90 per cent reported behavioural changes, saying they snacked less and had lost interest in sugary stuff.