Cancer survivor says losing weight with Slimming World may have saved her life

Lindsay Notts, from St Annes, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer after finding a dense mass at the age of 47.

She was diagnosed with cancer in October 2018 just months after signing up to Slimming World in May that year.

At that point she had lost two stone, which Lindsay believes helped her notice the change in her breast.

She was not due to have her first routine mammogram until three years later, by which time it could have been a very different outcome.

Lindsay began treatment in 2018 and had her third surgery two years later.

During this time she put on the weight she had initially lost as her Slimming World journey was put on the back burner.

Lindsay returned to Slimming World after her cancer treatment and has now achieved another incredible milestone after focusing on getting healthy again.

She has lost five stone to reach a healthy body mass index (BMI) so she can be in the best shape for surgery to have new breasts.

Slimming World consultant Nat Meadows said Lindsay, who joined during the winter lockdown, is an inspiration to others.

She said: “Lindsay has been through tough times. She is really inspiring.

"She is adament that losing weight initially saved her life, and now she has a healthy BMI, decent blood pressure and doesn’t have any of the risk factors which means she can have surgery for new boobs.

"It’s a major commitment to join in lockdown when the meetings were being done remotely on Zoom.

"She came to every meeting. She is really focused and doesn’t want to go backwards.”

Lindsay returned to Slimming World in January 2021 as she knew being slimmer would improve her health and reduce the chances of reoccurrence of cancer and other health conditions.

She stuck with the Food Optimising plan and set herself an ambitious target of losing five stone, which she has now achieved.

Lindsay said: “When the world opened back up I could still go out and socialise and lose weight without having to count a single calorie.

"There were some weeks where it was hard but I was so lucky to have the support of my group with Nat Meadows.

"On the weeks I went down a gear, they went up a gear and gave me the motivation and encouragement to go on.”

Consultant Nat added: “Lindsay made huge changes to the way she shopped – going down the the fruit and vegetable, lean meat, and poultry aisles first to fill up on all the free foods you can enjoy while Food Optimising from a list of over 330.

"She also started enjoying new activities such as boxing and when she went on a recent skiing trip she had to size down by four sizes in all her ski gear.

“She is now a size 10, has a healthy BMI and is excited for those new boobs to look amazing on her new body.”

Slimming World consultant Nat Meadows holds her group on Mondays at 8am, 9.30am, 5pm and 6.45pm at South Shore Tennis Club on Midgeland Road.