Copyright birminghammail
A Sutton Coldfield woman has shed an impressive four stone and eight pounds, proving that weight loss doesn't mean giving up evening tipples. Meadow Harrison, 22, from Sutton Coldfield , was left "mortified" after seeing photos of herself from New Year's Eve celebrations in 2024. After years of battling insecurities and emotional binge eating, Meadow vowed to overhaul her lifestyle. Despite trying various diets including calorie counting, Slimfast, 700 calorie fasting and the James Duncan diet, none had provided lasting results. In a fresh start for the new year, Meadow turned to a Slimming World magazine for inspiration. She confessed: "When I turned 21 and was at my heaviest, I liked going out and socialising with friends and family. I was getting to a point where I was feeling really insecure about my weight and going out turned into a really negative experience. "On New Year's Eve I went to a party and woke up the next day, looked at the pictures and was mortified. I wanted to do something about it and promised myself on that day I would never ever feel the way that I felt again." Inspired by her mum's success with Slimming World - having lost a stone and a half - Meadow found magazines from the plan at home and decided to make her own plan. She initially tried the Slimming World programme independently for a week before attending her first group session, weighing 13 stone 7 pounds and only just fitting into size 16 clothing. Meadow said: "I actually felt really nervous when I walked through the door, but I felt instantly relaxed as soon as I walked in. It was like something had come over me and I felt like this was a door that had been opened for me that's going to completely change my life. "The only way I can describe it is that you're in a room full of people that are showing up for themselves and it's just the most inspiring thing in the world." Throughout her Slimming World experience, Meadow encountered obstacles during difficult periods. She said: "Before I started my journey I would binge eat through my emotions. I was an emotional eater and there were times where work was stressful or had a bad day, and it took some serious willpower to get around those food cravings that I'd have. "When I was binge eating I wasn't necessarily thinking about what I was eating, I just wanted everything bad for me. One time I'd had a stressful day, eaten lots of chocolate and fell back into old habits. "I realised how bad that made me feel. I was like 'I don't need to feel like this again'. The plan made me feel really good and binge eating never made me feel good. "I'd also keep my head in the game and remind myself of the reason why, I'd always say this is your final destination and you need to get there... this is what you need to do." After spending nine months following the Slimming World programme, and without resorting to weight loss injections, Meadow shed four stone and eight pounds to hit her target weight of 9 stone. Now a dress size 8, Meadow described Slimming World as "flexible" and "kind" in comparison to previous diets she'd attempted. She highlighted that if she fancied a beer or glass of wine at day's end, she could enjoy one without guilt. She said: "The plan is so flexible, I can still have a beer at the end of the day when I want to. I can make curries for my friends when they come around for a drink and can still have curry and wine. "It can all be on plan, I'm literally spoiled with food choices so why would I give up and why would I not do it?". Following her remarkable transformation, Meadow chose to become a Slimming World consultant and launch her own group at St John's Church Hall in Walmley. The group, which attracted over 60 attendees, collectively lost a total of 90 pounds in one week alone. Meadow said: "I thought if I bite the bullet and invest, I can help as many people as I want to feel as good as I do. I just want to change as many lives as possible and make as many people feel as good as I do. "I'm 22 now, and I could never see myself joining and had this misconception that it was for the older generation. I was so wrong. "Even when you are with people of different ages, you don't feel like you're the youngest person in the room when you are. You just walk in and everyone is there to lose weight and support each other. These people carry you through your journey." Meadow also documents her slimming experience on TikTok, regularly uploading content showing her daily meals, recipe ideas and budget-friendly supermarket finds that are low in calories and syn-free. However, sharing her progress online means Meadow frequently encounters criticism from those who argue that Slimming World promotes an "unhealthy relationship with food because they can have an unlimited amount of pasta". Meadow responded: "That's a really common misconception, yes you can eat pasta on the plan but we would never encourage you not to add additional proteins and vegetables to make it healthy. "We actually teach people how to eat balanced meals so they don't over eat." Breakfast: A slice of brown bread, cheese spread and beans Lunch: A Slimming World bowl from Iceland as they're great on the go and there's lots of choice Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese with lots of cheese (You can lose weight and still eat something that feel like a hug in a bowl) Snack: Fruit dipped in chocolate and a beer
