The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- John Furner
Pills, injections and skinny teas, these are just some of the fads desperate dieters have turned to in the eternal battle to lose weight.
But now, three women, who have shed a whopping 22 stone between them, claim they’ve found one that actually works — and all it apparently takes is listening to a short recording every day.
Hayley Millar, Lorraine Murphy and Ava Brodie struggled with junk food addictions for years, scoffing entire bags of chocolate and sweets every day.
The trio hated their own habits so much that they even brutally dubbed themselves ‘beasts’, ‘couch potatoes’ and ‘sugarholics’.
Desperate for a change, the three turned to Slimpod — a 9-minute mindfulness tape that boasts it can teach listeners how to ‘lose the desire to snack’. Users listen while prepare to sleep each night.
Hayley Millar, 41, from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, shrank down from a size 24 to a size 12 in just 18 months
Unlike similar ‘quick-fix’ dieting trends, Slimpod doesn’t claim to trick the body into burning more fat.
Instead, it claims to ‘retrain the brain’, so that healthy eating becomes an ‘automatic habit’.
Users of Slimpod, the brainchild of a Harley Street behavioural change specialist, sign up to a 12-week ‘audio/visual transformation programme’, which costs £148 and is run through an app.
It includes video coaching, free recipes and access to a private Facebook support group.
On top of this, it also provides access to four ‘unique life-changing audio recordings’, that use ‘cutting-edge neuroscience’ called ‘nudge thinking’.
This, Slimpod claims, interferes with people’s habitual and emotional responses to food.
The company also adds that its methods results in ‘permanent’ fat loss for many without resorting to ‘humiliating’ weekly weigh-ins, dietary pills or slimming shakes.
But experts said that while the approach produces favourable results, it is not a diet.
Dr Hana Patel, who works as a GP in southeast London, said: ‘Slimpod is not a diet.
‘It uses the science of unconscious persuasion to gently change your mindset about eating.
‘The clinical trials showed Slimpod produces favorable results and illustrates that listening to it daily can enhance self-efficacy of eating, thereby aiding in reducing weight.’
Clinicians warn that while these weight loss observations appear promising, it is very rare one changing factor is to be the cause of such drastic weight loss.
NHS North London GP, Semiya Aziz said: ‘Weight loss often requires a myriad of lifestyle changes to ensure the individual is able to loose weight in a controlled and regulated manner.
‘Very rarely is there one factor that supports weight loss. It is not a quick fix and often is a bespoke undertaking.
‘Any individual deciding to loose weight should do their homework in advance of using various organisations for weight loss.’
‘They must look for subsequent evidence based, clinical information of success and not solely observational statements , made by those who have succeeded in losing weight using that [Slimpod] program.’
HAYLEY MILLAR, FROM 18ST TO 12ST
Hayley Millar, from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, credits Slimpod for helping her go from a size 24 to a 12 in just 18 months.
The 41-year-old teacher blamed her addiction to junk food and crisps for her weight ballooning to 18st (114kg).
Hayley, who described herself as a ‘couch potato’, said she used to cry if she saw a picture of herself and her self-confidence was low she often felt unable to leave the house.
But she was able to lose 6st after dramatically changing her eating, which she says was down to listening to the audio clip every night.
Haley said her life changed so dramatically, that she finally had the courage to get married.
She said: ‘Recently I bought a bag of crisps and threw them in the bin as when I put them in my mouth I felt I just didn’t want them.
‘For years I covered my body up in baggy, shapeless clothes. Hated clothes shopping. Tied my long, straggly hair back in a ponytail and lived in sweatpants. Felt old and ugly and frumpy in my 30s.’
LORRAINE MURPHY FROM 24ST TO 12ST
Mother-of-two Lorraine Murphy dubbed herself a ‘beast’ due to her habit of eating at least three chocolate bars everyday.
But the 64-year-old, from Manchester, has now lost half her total weight in two-and-a -half years — dropping from 24 stone to 12 (152 to 75kg).
Lorraine Murphy dubbed herself a ‘beast’ as she would eat at least three chocolate bars daily
The 64-year-old from Manchester lost half her weight in two and a half years – dropped from 24 to 12 stone
Lorraine said that for most of her life she was highly addicted to sugar and could not control her insatiable love for cakes, sweets and snacks, which led her waistline to continue expanding.
Because of her excess weight, she avoided meeting new people and became paranoid that they would judge her because of her size.
After desperately yo-yo dieting for years, she finally shed the pounds and which has enabled her to become the ‘life and soul of the party’.
‘Slimpod was a life-saver because it triggered something in my brain to change the way I felt,’ she said.
‘I literally felt like I was living in a fat suit – and I had no idea how to get out of it.’
AVA BRODIE FROM 12ST TO 8ST
After feeling ‘doomed’ to be fat for years, Ava Brodie halved her dress size in two years.
The 64-year-old, from Greater Manchester, lost 4st (25kg), dropping from a size 16 down to an eight.
Ava Brodie, from Littleborough, Greater Manchester, halved her dress size in two years. She slimed down from a size 16 to eight by losing four stone
The confessed ‘sugarholic’ said she ate family bags of chocolate and sweets every day.
But two years later, Ava said she now realises ‘the sugar was taking over her brain’ and losing weight saved her life.
She said she finally feels like she in back in control and has committed to going out wearing a little black dress in her 60s.
She said: ‘I feel like a normal person around food. I’m in control of the food rather than food being in control of me.’
WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE?
Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain, according to the NHS
• Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables count
• Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain
• 30 grams of fibre a day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, 2 whole-wheat cereal biscuits, 2 thick slices of wholemeal bread and large baked potato with the skin on
• Have some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks) choosing lower fat and lower sugar options
• Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish every week, one of which should be oily)
• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consuming in small amounts
• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water a day
• Adults should have less than 6g of salt and 20g of saturated fat for women or 30g for men a day
