This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2014at 4:34 pm by zoe.leahy@activenation.org.uk

Super Slimmer Suzi Is Now Confident Enough To Come To The Gym And Lead By Example

After dropping 7 dress sizes and losing 4 stone with support from Slimming World, Active Nation Supporter Suzi says she is now confident enough to come to the gym and teach her son all about the importance of healthy eating and being active.

Suzi Buccheri has always battled with her weight right from when she was a toddler. She went on her first diet at junior school and has tried almost every crash diet since. But it wasn’t a new food craze that inspired her to change the habits of her lifetime – it was her 4-and-a-half year old son Bailey.

34-year-old Suzi said: “It suddenly dawned on me one morning when I had made Bailey’s breakfast and I was forcing down a bizarre breakfast meal concoction – how could I explain that to him? He was my trigger.”

When she was 30, Suzi, who has worked as a restaurant manager and a waitress, tipped the scales at 15 stone for her 5ft 2inch frame.  The heaviest she had ever been.

She tried a few more diets and then in March last year she joined the weight loss group. By eating nutritious healthy meals, such as homemade spaghetti Bolognese and lovely big breakfasts with eggs, lean bacon, beans and toast, she has lost another four stone. Suzi now weighs 8st 11lb and has gone from a size 22 in clothes to an incredible size 6.

During her transformation Suzi got lots of positive comments from her friends and colleagues at Jamie Oliver’s chain of restaurants in Winchester and Portsmouth. But it isn’t the weight loss she is most proud of – it’s the good example she is setting for Bailey. The pair now love cooking healthy food together and running around outside.

Suzi added: “At Slimming World we call activity Body Magic – this can be anything from doing Zumba to walking the dog … anything that raises your heartbeat a little, makes you feel warmer and gives you rosy cheeks.

“I joined the gym a couple of months ago and one of the things I have really enjoyed is that I have made time for me personally and I feel that time is so valuable.

“Now that I am feeling fitter and being more active it has helped me encourage my son Bailey to be active, he has recently started gymnastics at school and we both can do kart wheels!”

Suzi is also helping others to lose weight and get active by running her own Slimming World group in Bishop’s Waltham every Tuesday.

She added: “It was Slimming World that helped me to lose the weight through healthy eating and I love being able to pass on my experience to others.

“But the most important thing to me is Bailey. I feel proud I can now set a good example to him and we can both enjoy so much more together. I’m so relieved I have ditched the fad diets and I feel like I’m the mum I want to be.”