Jodie was just 17 and on her first girls’ holiday when she heard a group of boys she and a friend had been talking to refer to her as the ‘fat friend’. She says: “It took my breath away and I ended up back in the hotel room in tears. I truly felt at my lowest.”
Back home, Jodie, who’s now 32, joined her local Slimming World group and went from 16st 7lbs to 10st 7lbs in two years – a weight she’s maintained ever since. Two years ago, after nine years at her target weight, Jodie decided to leave behind her career working for airlines to open her own Slimming World groups and help other people achieve their dream weight too, and now she’s been named Top Target Consultant 2017.
She says: “Losing weight when I did completely changed my life. It gave me so much more confidence in every respect. I was able to pursue a career as cabin crew, including moving to Dubai for five years and becoming a safety trainer teaching people how to put out fires, jump down slides and float on life-rafts, which I’d never have been able to do at my heaviest. I got married in a size-10 wedding dress, took part in a bikini photo shoot for a magazine and had a happy, healthy pregnancy with my little boy.
“I’m so grateful for all of the opportunities Slimming World has given me, so to get this award is amazing and I feel passionate about taking this opportunity to show people that it is possible to lose weight and keep it off – I should know, because I’ve done it!”
Jodie, who is married to Nigel and has one son, three-year-old Jenson, had struggled with her weight since her teens and says she remembers always being two or three dress sizes bigger than her friends: “Everyone always said I had ‘puppy fat’, but I never grew out of it and when I went to college my weight became more out of control. By that time I had my own money though so I could just buy clothes in the next dress size up and I avoided talking to anyone, including my parents, about my weight.”
However, Jodie was to be confronted by the reality of her size on her holiday to Spain. She had also been left embarrassed after starting a new job at Gap and having to choose her uniform from the menswear section because none of the women’s trousers or skirts fit her size-20 frame. She also suffered with asthma, migraines and painful knees due to her size, which are no longer an issue now.
Her godmother Marion suggested they join Slimming World together . She says: “If I’m honest, I spent all day trying to think of excuses not to go with her. I thought everyone would really judge me for being so big at such a young age. My fears were completely unfounded though and the truth is that you walk into a room full of people who all feel exactly the same way as you do and who totally understand what you’re going through.”
Jodie was also stunned to discover that losing weight with Slimming World didn’t mean going hungry. She began following the Food Optimising healthy eating plan and swapped her pre-packed sandwiches and jarred sauces for tasty, homemade options. She says: “I’d tried other diets in the past but none of them taught me anything about food – I’d ‘spend’ all my allowances on unhealthy foods or end up starving hungry on shakes and pills. This was completely different and I still eat the same way today. It’s great because Nigel and Jenson can eat the same meals and it’s easy to make healthy choices when I eat out too. Lots of my friends have joined Slimming World after seeing how well I’ve done, so they’re always happy to choose somewhere Slimming World-friendly to eat when we go out or we stay in and make a Food Optimising feast – and because nothing’s off the menu we can still treat ourselves to a glass of wine too!”
When Jodie began working as cabin crew she found it easy to Food Optimise around the world and would often board a long haul flight with lots of Tupperware filled with healthy meals and snacks.
She reached her target weight in December 2005 and believes being more active has been a big factor in helping her to stay there. She says: “I loved receiving awards for every half stone I lost and for being active, it’s amazing how motivating it can be to have something to work towards – and to get a new sticker on your book, of course! The fact that Slimming World recognised all activity, even every day jobs and tasks, made exercise seem much easier and more realistic. I built up slowly over the years and now I am a gym member and love running. Running around after Jenson is also a good workout and my parents are keen walkers so we like going out together and it’s made us closer too!”
In 2014, after moving back to England from Dubai, Jodie decided to make a career change too and trained as a Slimming World Consultant. She says: “It’s the most rewarding job I could ask for – I love seeing people reach a goal because I know exactly what that feels like. I’m really honest with my members and they know I’m still a Slimming World member too – I attend a group every week to get support to stay on track, even after all these years. I want them to know I’m human too and show them that Food Optimising isn’t a diet to go on and go off, it’s a plan for life.
“When I first joined Slimming World, meeting members who’d reached their target weight really inspired me because it showed me that what I wanted was possible, I love doing that for my members and hope by winning this competition I can inspire even more people.”
VITAL STATS:
Name: Jodie Rigby-Mee
Age: 32
Height: 5ft 6in
Starting weight: 16st 7lbs/231lbs/105kg
Current weight: 10st 7lbs/147lbs/67kg
Weight loss: 6st/84lbs/38kg
Starting dress size: 20
Current dress size: 10
Date joined Slimming World: May 2002
Date reached target weight: December 2005
Length of time maintained: 11 years 2 months
Date became a Consultant: June 2014
Group: Jodie lost weight at the Leamington Slimming World group, run by Consultant Nikki Ryan, and now runs her own Slimming World groups in Leamington and Bishops Itchington.