A dress, some snooty shop assistants and a family weddingwere the triggers that pushed Ursula Guilfoyle to her first Unislim class. “I always wanted to lose the weight but never really did anything about it, but when I heard my sister was going to get married, I decided that it was time to lose it. I went into a shop in Limerick and saw a lovely blue dress for the wedding.
I went up to these two shop assistants with the dress, I think it was in a size 14, and asked if they had it in a size 16, as this was the smallest size I could realistically squeeze into. They looked at the dress and they looked at each other, and they said “we don’t do that dress in a size any bigger than the one you have there”. I felt awful, but I bought the dress anyway, and I hung it on the front of my wardrobe and resolved to get into it, determined to get into that dress from day one. “If I ever fell off the wagon, I’d just look at the dress and think of the girls in the shop. In the end I had to get the dress taken in for the wedding, and I’d say it would be way too big on me now!
“I followed the plan to the letter and I lost the first three and a half stone in a few months. I drank my water and I tracked everything – this was the most important thing. If I didn’t lose as much one week as before I was able to look back at my food diary and see what I had eaten differently. I’d go to my classes every week and talk to the girls. Even now when I’m at target, I’d learn something from every class, tips or recipes or something else.
Planning is a big part of it. Once you plan what you are eating, you are fine. There were a few times when I didn’t plan ahead, and I find myself getting completely out of sync. The key is to not beat yourself up about it though, just start again the next day. That’s the best thing about Unislim – there’s never any negative comments or repercussions if you’ve had problems. Laura would always be very encouraging and positive at the meeting, there’s never any criticism. When your confidence is at rock bottom, the last thing you need is criticism.” Ursula joined with her mum, who also lost three stone. “We still go every Tuesday night. We’ve made so many friends through Unislim, and we meeting new members and sharing tips. The great things is that since hitting my target weight, I am a Free Slimmer now and can weigh in for free. I think it really helps new members to see others who have lost weight and get tips from them. My advice to anyone is to keep going to classes as it’s there you will get that one tip that will get you to your next goal, whatever that is”
