Jayne’s a company director and a single mother. After years of seeing her weight increase, Jayne came across Second Nature (then OurPath) on Facebook and decided to give the programme a go. She’s gone on to lose over 24kg (over 3 stone!) and feels like she has finally gained control of her health.
A bit about you
I’m Jayne and I’m 54 years old. I work as a company director for a local company manufacturing educational resources. It’s a small company so I head up both finance and production in my role. I have a son called George who is 23 now and I’ve been a single parent to him since he was 9. I had a great time bringing him up and trying lots of new things with him, to try and give him the best start in life I could. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always fun.
My quest to lose weight really started when George moved out which was back in December 2018. I had helped him to buy his first house and to do it up 6 months before he moved out. Him actually moving out was a big change to my life and at first, I hated it – having no one to look after (or talk to) was strange. But I decided it was time to do something positive and try once again to lose weight, after steadily gaining it for many years, and I wanted to be fitter and healthier too.
I started to do some research on all the many, many different apps, programmes, and weight loss suggestions but found nothing initially that I believed in. Unfortunately a few months after this, and while still trying to decide what to do, my best friend passed away very suddenly and it hit me really hard. I started eating for comfort and drinking too much and consequently put on even more weight and got even more down about my body.
Discovering Second Nature
Around the beginning of July (2019) while flicking through Facebook I saw an advert for ‘OurPath’ as it was back then. I can’t remember what it was about it that intrigued me but something did and I went away and did some more research on the programme and decided to go for it, this was very different to my previous research and approach. I signed up straight away, ordered the tracker, the weighing scales, downloaded the app, and agreed to start the following week. My first weigh-in was on 21st July and my starting weight was 101.9kg.
From the word go I found the information supplied, both in the first books I received and also the articles on the app really informative. I quickly realised just how little I knew about how my own body worked, how certain foods were just wrong for me and how most of my other indulgences were really just habits that I needed to break.
Empowered with knowledge
I really looked forward each week to the new articles arriving on my app and what new information I would learn. I still find it hard to believe that I was unaware of so many things that were adversely affecting my body on a daily basis. These articles were also great as a reference point going forward for looking up things I had maybe forgotten or just couldn’t quite remember correctly. They helped to keep focused on the end goal!
I was put into a group of fellow weight loss hopefuls along with our lovely health coach, Reema. It was so helpful that we could all chat, pass on helpful tips, recipes and just be there for each other, any time of the day or night, just by having our phones with us and opening the app.
The health coach a critical part
Having a health coach there for us all as a group was invaluable. Reema did a great job in gelling us together as a group and getting us to support each other every step of the way. It also helped to have a health coach there to contact any time you felt a little down, or maybe had ‘strayed’ off the programme and gone on a little backwards move and needed some encouragement to reconnect and move forward in a positive manner is essential.
Reema was never judging, just always helpful and encouraging no matter what. All our group needed her there for us at one point or another. I think I was also lucky with the group I was with, I want to mention the ones from my group who stayed the course here. We are still in almost daily contact now, almost a year later. There is Vivienne, Louise, Gill, Lara, Susan, Morag and Jean. Some have now left the programme but I set up a WhatsApp group for us all to keep in touch so we could continue to support and encourage each other along the way.
Flexibility around your lifestyle
I think for me one of the great things about the programme was the freedom of choice of what I could eat – I still can’t believe to this day that I can eat cheese, butter, and full-fat versions of yoghurt etc. This is something I’ve never done before, it’s always been low-fat this and low-fat that. I never realised before that typically meant more sugar! This is why the ‘learning’ parts of the programme were so important and essential for me personally.
I love cooking so making everything from scratch and trying to cut out all processed food was great. Learning to plan meals and shop for a week was also great. this is something I still do now – a great habit formed and now never broken! It makes life so much easier; I would recommend this to everyone!
I still find it hard to believe the weight just started to go. I was walking more and going to the gym regularly but after so many years of trying unsuccessfully to lose weight, the results were quick, steady and impressive. And of course the more the weight started to lower, the harder I tried as it’s such a great feeling when suddenly your waistband isn’t tight any more!
Healthy habits became Second Nature
I was a little worried about destroying the great start I had on the programme as on 3rd September I had a holiday of a lifetime booked for 2 weeks. I weighed in on 1st September and had already lost 10 kilos – my weight was 91.6kg. But I had 2 weeks of holiday to get through. I couldn’t be ‘good’ all the time but needed to try and balance everything out. I always tried to go for the healthier option on food and try and drink plenty of water along with the prosecco on an evening! I also made sure I was walking plenty whenever I could.
I was dreading my first weigh-in when I got back and nervously got on the scales on 23rd September, what a shock when they showed 91.6kg! Just to be sure I re-weighed myself half a dozen times and it was still 91.6kg. This was a massive boost to me and made me realise that all the new habits I was forming since the start of the programme were actually paying off. And more importantly, I didn’t feel like I missed out on anything while on holiday.
Lifechanging impact
My current weight is now 77.8kg, so since starting the programme that is a total loss of 24.1kg! I still sometimes sit down and think how did I manage that? I think the real answer is that through the programme, with Reema, the group and all the things I learned along the way my attitude to food, alcohol and life changed so much.
I learned things I should have known for years but sadly didn’t. I still go out, have fun and treat myself along the way, but it’s more measured now and more controllable. That is such a positive thing – I now feel in control and can limit myself to not overindulge too much, too regularly but still allow myself the freedom to have a good time and not feel like I’m missing out on anything.
My whole mindset and outlook on life are now more positive. I have so much energy sometimes I’m not sure what to do with myself. I drive my friends mad always wanting to be on the go, doing something. I’ve gone from being happy to sit at home watching TV to being out and about constantly, walking, at the gym, seeing friends and just enjoying life. I feel fitter, healthier and in control.
Never going back!
It is such a good and inspiring feeling to have and I know I will never go back to how things were before. This has been a change for life. New habits have been formed to replace old unhealthy ones, and they are here for life!
I would and regularly recommend ‘Second Nature’ to others. It’s not a diet – and that’s very important to note – it’s a programme that will change your outlook on life, food, alcohol, exercise, and health. The only way to lose weight and for it to be sustainable is to change your habits for the better and for life, which is what I feel I have done.
You can read more Second Nature stories here.
