Engineering administrator Jaea Hoyle, 28, confesses she put a lot of weight on after having her son in November 2023, when she ate a lot more chocolate and drank full fat drinks while on maternity leave ” as a quick fix for my hunger”. She began to hate what she saw in the mirror but did nothing about it.
Then in June 2024, Jaea, who lives in Mackworth, realised she needed to take action. She said: “I started to be so miserable with my appearance and how much weight I had gained in such a short time. I decided I needed to do something, if not for me then definitely for my son, so I could be more active when he is older.
“Also, I would get so out of breath even just walking the dog and just doing every day-to-day easy tasks would make me so tired.
“I had been to Sam’s Slimming World class in Allestree a few years back and knew how amazing and supportive she is, and I knew I would get the results I wanted with her, so I joined.”
Jaea’s starting weight waswas 17 stone 3.5 pounds. She said: “My dress size was 20/22, this was roughly the heaviest I had been. My weight now is 12 stone 2 pounds. I’m currently not trying to maintain my weight just yet, as I am still wanting to lose some more weight.
“It has taken me 22/23 weeks to achieve this weight loss. My biggest weight loss in a week was 9.5 pounds.”
The biggest temptations facing Jaea has always been chocolate and takeaways. She said: “I turned to chocolate at every opportunity and takeaways were so easy and quick.
“But walking through the doors on my first day at the Slimming World class was easier than I had thought. Seeing how supportive everyone was in the group, and hearing all about everyone’s amazing achievements and journeys, I knew I couldn’t wait to be a part of it all and seeing my own goals become reality.
“The new member talk with Sam was super vital for my journey, as Sam explains absolutely everything and how it all works. Sam made sure I understood it all and answered any questions I had about Slimming World. Without this talk, I wouldn’t have had any understanding on how it all works.”
Jaea, who in addition to her partner and son, now aged one, also has two step-daughters aged eight and 12. She said: “I cut out chocolate and takeaways, and swapped all the full fat drinks I would drink normally for diet ones and even water/juice.
“I started to walk a lot more and tried to go out on my bike on a few occasions. Slimming World has the most amazing variety of recipes and they are so super-easy to make, which made it so easy for me to not turn back to take away and junk food.
“I love potatoes, and you can make so many different things with them which you can add into your meals. I also love veg a lot more than I used to.
“My family have been all been so amazing and supportive. I started my Slimming World journey with my mum, so it has been so helpful to share tips with each. My partner has been my biggest supporter, he loves to help come up with new ideas on what we can eat and loves making the Slimming World recipes and he always compliments me on how amazing I am doing and how proud he is of me.”
Jaea has now managed to cast off the baggy clothes she had been wearing to hide her weight gain and buy new clothes “and feel good in them”, she said. “Sam and the group at Allestree have completely changed my life, they are all so supportive and motivating. I have not felt this great in a long time and I will be forever grateful for all their help.”
For more information about Slimming World Classes click here.