Rita Ansbro Valentine Gift to herself

Rita Ansbro gave herself a Valentine’s gift and now she’s 3 stone 10 ½ lbs lighter

Joining Slimming World on the 14th of February 2025, encouraged by her neighbour who had just started going herself, Rita weighed in at 13 stone 5 ½ lbs. She reveals that she’d been to Slimming World and done well in 2010, but life got in the way, and she put most of her weight loss back on. However, this time she has shown great determination and has now lost 3 stone 10 ½ lb reaching her personally chosen target.“I’m over the moon and so proud of my achievement, and I’m now determined to remain at my Slimming World target,” she said, “And to top it all off I’ve just become my group’s 2026 Greatest Loser, and I never thought I’d be happy saying I was a loser, but I am!”

Rita, who has been supported by her Slimming World consultants Glenis Tansey and more recently Judith Cook, and the members of the Slimming World group she attends, has said she will hopefully be able to support all the friends she has made going forward.

She says, “I’m not sure what I expected when I joined last year, but I’d been having health problems especially with my back, I’ve also have high blood pressure, which I’ve had since my early 30’s, and in recent years high cholesterol. I think I realised I really needed to do something as I reach my 70th birthday this year and wanted to be much healthier, not just for me, but to ensure I lived long and well for my family too.”

When asked about what keeps her going to Slimming World now she’s at target she replied, “The support of the group has been essential.We’re all losing weight for our own reasons, but we have one aim, so we know how each other feels when we’ve had a ‘bad’ week. I believe that because no food or drink is banned Food Optimising teaches you to eat and drink without restricting you, so you’re not on a ‘diet’ just relearning to eat correctly. The other thing Slimming World explains is that if you can put some exercise into your day the results happen quicker.However, that doesn’t mean you have to run a marathon. As an amputee and with spinal disc problems, my mobility is restricted, so I use the Slimming World App to complete seated exercises which makes exercising so much easier, and you don’t have to do it every day.”

Rita states that rejoining Slimming World was the best thing she did. “Don’t be afraid of rejoining, a lot of members have been there before as well, and it just gives you more determination to succeed. Walking through the door for the first time is probably the hardest thing to do, but you’ll find that Slimming World members are very friendly and supportive, and if I can help just one person reach their target weight like me, then it will make me even prouder than I already am.”

Rita attends Judith Cook’s Slimming World group which is held at Our Lady and St Edwards Fulwood every Thursday from 7:30 am helping those who want to attend before going to work and 9:00am for those who need to take children to school first. Anyone can attend either session, it’s up to you to choose which is best for you. For more information or to join Judith’s group either pop along any Thursday morning, or call her on 07913663494 .

Or: For more information visit www.slimmingworld.co.uk or call 0344 897 8000.