Alice keeps her 8½st weight loss off for five years – and counting!
- Alice Ingman, from Wisbech, decided to lose weight after an embarrassing experience in a fitting room
- Since joining Slimming World, Alice has lost an amazing 8st 8lbs – a weight loss she has maintained for the past five years
- The 59-year-old has been named Slimming World’s Diamond Member of the Year 2023, a competition that celebrates weight maintenance
- Alice’s experience is supported by new research that shows three in four people who received support to develop healthier habits at a weekly Slimming World group were lighter up to three years after joining – even if they stopped attending!
A Cambridgeshire mum has been named Slimming World’s Diamond Member of the Year 2023 after maintaining her incredible 8st 8lb weight loss for the past five years.
Fifty-nine-year-old Alice Ingman gained weight steadily for years, suffering with painful acid reflux and reaching more than 18st. She finally decided to do something about her weight after an embarrassing experience in a clothes fitting room.
Alice, who lives in Wisbech with her husband Kevin, 67, and daughter Lauren, 23, knew she didn’t want to opt for drastic weight loss methods such as shakes or soups, which she’d tried with limited success before.
Instead, Alice joined Slimming World and received support to adopt healthy habits which enabled her to lose weight and keep it off. She says: “All of the fad diets work in the short term, but overly restricting myself wasn’t for me as I always ended up regaining the weight. This time I wanted to make a change for good. That’s what appealed about Slimming World, I’d heard that you could still eat real food and the idea of a group setting really appealed to me.”
New research published in Clinical Nutrition Open Science supports Alice’s view, with the study revealing that three in four respondents who received support in building healthy habits at a Slimming World group were lighter up to three years after joining, even if they’d stopped attending.[1]
Eight in 10 (83%) of those who responded to the survey and were still attending each week up to three years after first joining reported that their health had improved, with 93% attributing the improvement to their weight management and the lifestyle changes they’d made. While 50% of those no longer attending also reported improvements to their health up to 36 months later.
Alice, who is originally from Paisley, says: “My weight was really taking a toll on my health. I had terrible acid reflux, my legs would rub together and cause painful sores, and I’d be completely out of breath after the most minimal physical activity. I knew that Kevin and Lauren were worried about me too because I’d get tired so easily.
“I’d been relatively slim up until my mid-20s – the weight went on so gradually that I didn’t really notice at first. One afternoon I was shopping for new work clothes, convinced I was still a size 16. When I found myself in the changing room surrounded by size 20 skirts that didn’t fit, I knew I had to do something.”
[1] [1] Published in Clinical Nutrition Open Science
I lost the weight steadily which I think really helped. I also began to exercise for the first time ever, which I am sure has contributed to how easy I have found maintaining my weight
The retired personal assistant says despite being someone who enjoys meeting new people, she was nervous going along to her first Slimming World group: “Even though the idea of a group really appealed to me, I still had those first-night jitters! Everyone was really friendly though and I soon made some great friends. I always tell everyone that my ‘secret’ to long-term weight loss is having support around you. Even after years at target I’m still learning about myself as a slimmer and picking up new recipes and ideas.”
Alice soon got to grips with Slimming World’s Food Optimising eating plan and learned to build healthier habits around food, including cooking from scratch more and eating more fruit and vegetables.
Slimming World’s study found that 94% of current members and 81% of past members who responded were still cooking more meals from scratch using fresh ingredients up to three years on. While nearly all the current members (98%) and three quarters (74%) of those no longer attending said they were eating more fruit and vegetables.
She says: “I’ve always enjoyed food but had fallen out of love with cooking. Most of my meals had a plastic lid and were either from the takeaway or for the microwave. Slimming World showed me that I could still enjoy the flavours of food while losing weight. I absolutely love a curry – the spicier the better – so experimenting with my own recipes really kept me on track. It was a totally new way of looking at weight loss and I think that’s why it has worked so well for me.”
Over the course of six years Alice lost an incredible 8st 8lbs – a weight loss she has maintained since 2018 when she achieved her target weight. She says: “I lost the weight steadily which I think really helped. I also began to exercise for the first time ever, which I am sure has contributed to how easy I have found maintaining my weight.”
Alice began to get active with the help of Slimming World’s physical activity support programme, which helps members to create a personal plan to increase their activity levels at their own pace.
She says: “I’ve never been sporty, yet losing weight gave me so much more energy, so for the first time ever I felt motivated to move my body. Walking felt much easier after losing weight, so for me the next step was to try running. I joined a local running club and loved how it made me feel – powerful, fit and strong! Since then, I’ve completed ten half marathons and three marathons – a total world away from the person who would be out of puff after a trip around the shops.
“And clothes shopping has become one of my favourite hobbies! Feeling great in my clothes is amazing yet for me my health is the biggest gift of all. My family no longer worry about me, and you just can’t put a price on that feeling. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my Slimming World group and Kevin and Lauren – they’ve been my cheerleaders the whole way. I’m fitter, happier and healthier – and this time it’s for life.”
Dr Amanda Avery, Slimming World’s Health and Research Consultant Dietitian, says: “At a time when people can feel bombarded with so many different ways to lose weight, it can be confusing to know which approach will truly work for you. Our research and Alice’s story show anyone who is trying to lose weight and keep it off, how important it is to make healthy lifestyle changes. As no two slimmers are the same, it’s the expertise and support members receive at their local Slimming World group which helps them to understand what those changes mean for them, just as Alice has done beautifully.”
VITAL STATS:
Name: Alice Ingman
Age: 59
Height: 5ft 5ins/165cm
Starting weight: 18st 1lb/114kg/253lbs
Current weight: 9st 7lbs/60kg/133lbs
Weight loss: 8st 8lbs/54kg/120lbs
Dress size before: 22
Dress size now: 8
Date joined Slimming World: May 2012
Achieved target weight: February 2018
Time at target weight: 5 years
Group: Alice attends Tina Rust’s Wisbech Slimming World group in Cambridgeshire
Before menu
Breakfast: Nothing
Lunch: A supermarket meal deal such as a sandwich, crisps and a drink followed by chocolate or cake
Dinner: An Indian takeaway or a spaghetti carbonara ready meal made in the microwave
Snacks: Crisps, chocolate, biscuits, cake
After menu
Breakfast: Homemade overnight oats, made with fruit and yogurt
Lunch: Leftovers from a meal made the night before or homemade salad-filled wholemeal roll
Dinner: A spicy fakeaway curry made from scratch, served with rice
Evening: A Slimming World Hi-Fi bar (available in groups, online and in selected Iceland stores) or a flavoured fat-free yogurt
For further information please contact Lucy Fisher in the Slimming World press office on lucy.fisher@slimmingworld.co.uk or on 01773 306852.
Notes to editors
● This story is NOT for syndication to any magazines without the consent of Alice Ingman and the Slimming World press office (details above).
● Slimming World and Alice Ingman retain copyright of all images attached to this press release. After photos should be credited: Slimming World/Paul Buller
About Slimming World
Slimming World was founded by Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE in Derbyshire in 1969 and has become the UK and Ireland’s leading weight loss organisation with more people choosing to attend a Slimming World group each week than any other weight loss programme. We support hundreds of thousands of people, both in our groups and online, to lose weight and to adopt new habits to stay slim for life.
Over the years our founding principles haven’t changed:
· Our unique programme is based on a powerfully motivating support system called IMAGE (Individual Motivation and Group Experience) Therapy. Underpinned by a deep understanding of the psychology of overweight people, and incorporating the most effective sustainable behaviour change techniques, IMAGE Therapy is designed to inspire and motivate slimmers to make positive changes and to develop new, healthier habits around food and activity.
· Food Optimising is our healthy eating plan, based on the liberating concept of Free Food. We encourage our members to fill up on those foods that are naturally lower in energy density (calories per gram) and also highly satisfying while limiting foods that are highest in fat and sugar and are less satisfying, so they lose weight without ever feeling hungry or deprived and without having to weigh, measure or count everything they eat.
· Our activity support programme, Body Magic helps members to overcome any barriers around exercise. Members choose when to start and they set the pace, finding activities they genuinely enjoy, until regular physical activity becomes an intrinsic part of their daily routine.
At the heart of everything we do lies our passion for treating every member with genuine care, empathy and respect.
We’re proud to work with the NHS, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), The Royal College of Midwives and others to help shape the future of weight management in the UK and Ireland.
For more information about Slimming World’s approach visit slimmingworld.co.uk or slimmingworld.ie
Follow Slimming World on Twitter at twitter.com/slimmingworld or become a Slimming World fan on Facebook at facebook.com/slimmingworld
For the Press Office visit our newsroom or email public.relations@slimmingworld.co.uk