A slimmer who will soon lead a group in Ely is excited to help other people make positive changes in their lives. 

Elaine Ridgewell said her weight had originally started to creep up when she started working full time in 2009.

"I had stopped going to the gym and was eating anything and everything for convenience," she said.

Then, a month after celebrating her 50th birthday in January 2012, she had a hysterectomy.

"Because I could not do much while recuperating from surgery, my weight started to pile on even faster.

"I ended up feeling very unhappy with way I looked, and even more so when I was unable to wear all the lovely clothes I had in my wardrobe.

"I just kept making excuses that it was because of my operation and getting older, believing your metabolism slows down every time you celebrate the next big number."

After Christmas in 2012, Elaine got talking to a colleague at work who was going to a Slimming World group.

"She was losing weight and was feeling much better for it, so I thought I would give it a go," Elaine said.

A friend had also asked her to take part in a 56-mile sponsored bike ride in aid of The British Heart Foundation. 

"Once I am given a challenge, I find it hard or resist, and I needed to lose weight to be able to do it," she said.

When Elaine went to her first group, she was "astounded at the amount of food you could eat.

"The group was always full of ideas and support from other members as well as the consultant.

"I learnt that it is not a ‘diet,’ but a new way of life and your relationship with food is about enjoying what you eat by making the right choices.

"You can still eat and or drink the things you enjoy, just in a healthy way and cooking it in a healthy way."

In June that year, Elaine completed that bike ride which, she says, "made feel enormously proud of myself".

After reaching her target in December 2014, she continued going to group for at least a year. 

However, after a year she told herself she "did not need to go anymore, which was the biggest mistake I had made. I became very complacent and again the weight piled back on".

Working long, unsociable hours, especially during the pandemic, meant that losing weight was "the last thing on my mind".

However, once the Slimming World groups were up and running again, Elaine went to Belinda’s group in Ely on a Wednesday evening.

"I was doing well, then my dad became ill. I was having to keep travelling to Devon to be with him until he passed away. Yet again, my weight loss took a back seat."

In October 2023, she decided "I really needed to take hold of my weight.

"I was having a few health issues and being overweight was not helping, I needed to do this for me, so I decided to rejoin again, this time a Thursday morning group in Ely.

"I was a little apprehensive as I did not know anyone, but I need not have worried as the consultant was very welcoming as was everyone else.

"As I left my first group I felt as if I had known everyone for a very long time and felt motivated to get back to target.

"Unfortunately, the consultant had to give up the role in February this year and asked me if I would like to train up to take over her group."

As of May 2, Elaine will be new consultant at the Thursday morning Slimming World group at Ely Bowls Club at 9am and a brand-new session at 10.30am the same day.

"It is time for me to do something that I feel enthusiastic about by concentrating on a new career to help others."