BLOGS FOR MOVING
Dominique’s Success Story – From Trauma to Triumph
Congratulations to Dominique, our December Transformation Challenge winner. She’s had a challenging few years, but with encouragement from the Secret Slimmer community, she put herself forward for the challenge and is now £1000 richer!
So what’s her story? How did she get to this point? Well, Dominique found herself at her lowest and heaviest after many years of trauma in her life. As we eventually all do, she hit the point where she felt she couldn’t continue as she was, and decided to seek out her best life.
Part of her new self involved slimming down, but having tried all the diets out there she was sceptical that she would find something that would work. Yet the New You 12 weeks to change your life on our website really spoke to her. So she dove right in.
Read on to discover her full journey, her highs and lows, and how she achieved her inspirational results.
After a traumatic few years, loosing both my parents and then my son being diagnosed with Cancer, I was at my absolute lowest, mentally and physically. I ballooned to the biggest I have ever been, weighing in at 17 stone 7lb, wearing a size 20 clothing, and felt much older than my 32 year old self.
Spending the past few years in hospital led me to eat out of boredom and comfort. I was only moving from my bed to my sons, in a small hospital room, so I was certainly not burning off anything during the day.
Once my son was in remission I realised that life really is far too short. I decided that from that day I was going to live my best life. But to do this I needed to firstly get back to being happy in my own skin.
That is when I stumbled up The New You Plan on Facebook. After reading a few reviews and being blown away by the unbelievable transformation photos, I knew that it was exactly what I needed. I was at the stage where I needed something drastic. Something all or nothing. I have tried every single diet on the planet, and I never ever succeeded on them. I needed to totally re-set my mindset when it came to food. I needed something simple that told me, ‘Eat this, and nothing else. The banner on The New You Facebook page really spoke to me. ‘12 weeks to change your life’ and that’s what I intended to do. I placed my first order on the 11th of May 2021, and was thrilled when it arrived the next day. I’m your typical I’ll start on Monday’ kind of girl when it comes to dieting. But I was so excited to get started that I started that day.
Within my first week I lost a massive 12lb! Which was absolutely crazy considering I had never lost that amount in total on any diet I had tried in the past. It really did give me the boost to keep going. I found the products that I loved, and surprisingly there were not many products that I disliked. I like sweet things, more so when I’m on a diet, so my cupboard staples are; the muesli or crispy caramel total bars, the chocolate brownie, chocolate shake and the curry noodles (with dried chilli flakes for an added kick).
Although challenging at times, I kept telling myself that it was only 12 weeks out of my life. I finished my first 12 weeks loosing exactly 3 stone! When I first set out, I remember writing in my New You Journal that I would be ecstatic with a 2 stone overall loss (and even then I never thought I would achieve that) So to lose 3 stone blew me away.
I carried on with my New You Journey, and I have now lost 5 stone in total.I The jumped between the Total Food Replacement, and the Switch weight loss programmes, as and when special events in my life arose, which is another reason why I love The New You Plan. The flexibility allowed me to still continue to loose weight, but not feel as restricted.
When I hit 5 the 5 stone loss mark, I was so pleased with myself, and really wanted to shout it from the roof tops.
I hadn’t told anyone I was on a diet, as I was embarrassed, and I certainly hadn’t posted it on my social media. I am however a member of The New You Secret Slimmer’s Facebook page, and seen how supportive the members on there had been. So I posted my results so that everyone could see just how good The New You diet really is. I also thought I owed it to the people starting out, as it was a similar post that spurred me on and made me actually start the diet in the first place. I was blown away with the lovely comments, and encouraging words that I received. It was there that it was suggested that I should enter the transformation challenge.
As well as the scale victories, you do of course have them big off scale victories. Mine came in the form of a designer tracksuit that my partner purchased for me 5 years ago. I would say it was a size 12-14 and I remember trying it on and it wouldn’t even come up past my knees. Embarrassed I told him it was a tad small and said I would put it away until I lost a bit of weight. I knew there was no way in this world that it would ever fit me. I debated giving it to a friend, but felt bad as I knew it was expensive. Once I started to loose weight, I came clean to my partner and showed him just how small that tracksuit was. We all had a laugh and he said, well soon enough you will be in that. At the end of my 12 weeks, I tried it on and low and behold it fit! It was snug I am not going to lie, but it was wearable. That tracksuit now a staple in my wardrobe, and I wear it on a weekly basis. It is always the one item of clothing that makes me smile when I put it on.
Since taking part in The New You programme I have learnt that if you really want it enough, and you put your mind to it, then you can not only change your life, but your entire families life. A happy mum, makes a happy home! My children are benefiting from me being present. Not hiding away and making excuses to take them to places, and join in with games. I now have the energy and also the enthusiasm to play, and visit all the places that they want.
I feel confident, and feel like I have opened up a world of possibilities.
It hasn’t been all plain sailing. Anyone that starts a diet knows that there will be days that are harder than others, and I certainly had my fair share along the way. I will be honest, I did have a few blips along the way (of the food variety) but I took the wonderful advice from The New You Secret Slimmer’s Facebook Page, drank lots of extra water, and kept going. The most important thing to do if you fall off plan, is to get straight back on. I was really surprised when I weighed in, and my small blip didn’t massively affect the scales. Because when you think about it, one small blip is not going to un-do all the weeks and weeks of hard work you have put in. As recommended I switched to easier to digest packets the following day, like soups and shakes, and immediately felt better. The support from The New You Facebook group really has been invaluable to me throughout my journey. I tend to shy away from groups and discussions online, and I wouldn’t say that I have hugely had an input into the Facebook page, but I still gained lots of useful advice, and support as most of the posts on there relate to you at some point in your journey.
As hard as the plan was at times, I had just witnessed my then 10 year old child undergo chemo and numerous other procedures. So each time I wanted to quit I reminded myself that if he can do that, and come out the other side then there is no way on this earth I can quit! This was easy compared to what others go through.
If you are thinking of trying The New Plan, then my advice is do it! And do it now. Do not wait. It is extremely hard for this plan to not work. The cost of a weeks starter bundle is what I would usually spend out on one dinner. I lost 12lb in my first week, and if you could just try a week I am positive that you will be in for a big loss too. You owe it to yourself to be happy, and The New You Plan has certainly helped me to be a happier and healthier version of myself.
Dominique used the flexibility of the New You Plan to her advantage and lost an incredible 5 stone.
She has rightly celebrated her non-scale victories and although she admits it has been tough at times she has never felt restricted.
Thank you Dominique for sharing your story with us, we’re sure it will inspire someone to start their journey just as you were by someone else’s. And as Dominique says, if you want it enough and put your mind to it – you can change your life, and you can be happy!
So stop thinking about trying the New Plan and just do it! Try it for 7 days and see exactly what you can achieve. For Dominique it was a 12lb loss. What will yours be?
Luke Marshall
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