‘One blip doesn’t have to mean you’ve blown it’ Mhairi lost 11 stone making new mindset grooves

Mhairi says ‘Over the years I have had setbacks with losing weight and couldn’t understand what they were. I would start off eager and confident with every new diet I tried and then something would happen, and I would fall off it yet again.’

I went to Slimming World – and after I listened to my consultant explaining about how important it was to change your mindset around food and activity I realised things needed to change within me to make this happen.

The survey of 2,003 adults, commissioned by the UK and Ireland’s largest weight-loss organisation revealed 77% of adults say they’ve previously attempted to lose weight and on average people have tried to lose weight seven times in their lifetime.

Mhairi after her life change weight loss

Of those who had experienced a setback while trying to lose weight, 38% say the top cause was feeling hungry and 29% say it was a stressful life event such as a bereavement, job loss or family illness.

Mhairi learnt so much about the mindset change in group that she wanted to be able to share this with more people and decided to become a consultant herself.

Mhairi says ’I help members identify what changes they need to make around food, socialising and activity that could send them off track or cause that small blip.’

The top temptations which can cause setbacks are having unhealthy snacks in the house such as crisps and chocolate, Saturday night takeaways, cakes and pastries when buying coffee and fast food after a night out drinking.

Mhairi on her wedding day.

Professor James Stubbs, Appetite & Energy Balance, University of Leeds, agrees having a flexible mindset is important to any weight loss endeavour. He says: “For anyone looking to lose weight, it’s important to remember that this is not a quick fix, it’s a gradual process. As with any journey it is good to be prepared, to have plans, tools to help you navigate and coping strategies for when the journey can get difficult. Behaviour change plays a key role and there will be days when setbacks will be experienced and things don’t go so well, which is perfectly natural. Learning how to navigate setbacks is what helps people develop the skills needed for lasting behaviour change. Even people who are highly successful at losing weight and keeping it off have setbacks and revisit some of the strategies they used to lose weight initially.”

Slimming World’s approach combines support to change your mindset around weight loss with a flexible healthy eating plan and a physical support activity programme – both of which can be tailored to your lifestyle and ability. Members, who attend a weekly group or access support online, gain knowledge and expertise to understand themselves better as a slimmer. They are encouraged to use deep thinking and techniques including visualisation and planning to build their motivation, self-belief and commitment so they can change their relationship with food, physical activity and weight loss in general and achieve long lasting success.

A survey of Slimming World members discovered, 82% feel more capable of dealing with setbacks than they did when making previous weight loss attempts. The vast majority, 72% of members questioned said they’re less likely to experience setbacks now they’re a member of Slimming World, due to the flexibility and support the plan provides and 84% agree they’re more confident in their ability to recover from a setback while losing weight than they were before joining.

Mhairi’s group is held every Sunday at 4pm at Foresters Rugby Club, South Gyle. Contact consultant Mhairi Cosgrove on 07488227782 or check www.slimmingworld.co.uk group finder for your local group.