Maintainer winner, Suzi Smythe, is our oldest ever Slimmer Awards winner who is proving life really does begin at 80!
Suzi, from Warwickshire, is celebrating scooping the coveted title at The 1:1 Diet's recent glitzy awards night in Birmingham.
Suzi was 74 when she went on Plan with The 1:1 Diet because she wanted to look good in the bedroom for Barry.
“At the ripe old age of 74, I began a relationship with a lovely man, who was the reason I started my weight loss journey. I could never have let him see me with no clothes on, is what we always joke about, in being the reason I made that initial call to my Consultant, Helen.”
“I began my weight loss journey at 13 stone two-and-a-half pounds, using what was then Sole Source, gradually working up through the steps till I achieved a loss of two-and-a-half stone by my 75th birthday.”
Suzi’s son, who lives in Canada, didn’t recognise his mum when she went to see him back in 2016.
“That summer I went on a trip of a lifetime to see my son in Canada. He did not even recognise me when he met me in airport arrivals.”
Mother-of-three Suzi’s weight went on over time after she was in a very unhappy marriage.
“I found myself on my own, left to bring up my children and juggling my career in nursing,” she recalled. “I spiralled into a lonely miserable world of over-eating, drinking and getting fat.
“From the very first day I met Helen, this diet changed my life and has been a part of it ever since,” she said.
This trophy adds to another Suzi won with The 1:1 Diet back in 2016 when Helen persuaded her to tell her story to inspire others. Suzi won what was then called the Over 50 category in the Slimmer Awards 2016, going on radio and appearing in magazines to tell her story.
“Helen wanted me to inspire others that you’re never too old to change your life,” said Suzi. “I couldn’t believe it when I won. I'm not sure if it was the story of buying my ‘sexy underwear’ to impress my new beau, that clinched it! Who knows? But it holds a very special place in my heart and I was also privileged to have attended two more The 1:1 Diet Conventions as Helen's guest.”
Suzi said maintaining her weight has been fun.
“The past few years have been awesome, amazing and a whirlwind. I’ve been on numerous trips and holidays and have kept in contact with Helen throughout this time, using The 1:1 Diet for maintaining purposes, to keep me fit and healthy.”
She has also become much more active than she was before losing the weight.
“I’ve become a local parish councillor and social club committee member, found a passion for love and gardening and celebrated my socially distanced 80th birthday,” she said. “I’m looking forward to a proper knees-up once restrictions are lifted.
“My weight no longer ever feels the battle that I’d had with it, for most of my life.
“If I had realised then, what I know now of what making that initial call to Helen would have meant to my life, all those years ago, I would never have believed it.”
And she is looking forward to going wedding dress shopping for her forthcoming nuptials to her fiancé, Barry.
“Finally, I got engaged to my wonderful Barry, the catalyst to my journey with The 1:1 Diet!” she said. “Thank you The 1:1 Diet. Thank you Helen. You have helped enrich these last few years of my life, beyond belief.
“I feel happy. I feel healthy. I hope to have many more years of wellness and happiness with Helen, The 1:1 Diet and, of course, Barry in my life.
“I may no longer be sexy at 70, but am accepting being exceptional at 80!”
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