Jen finds recipe to shed 3 stones
Working in a kitchen can play havoc with your waistline. Not only are you tempted to taste test all the dishes on the menu but if you are working anti-social shifts the last thing you want to do when you get home is cook for yourself.
Working in a kitchen can play havoc with your waistline. Not only are you tempted to taste test all the dishes on the menu but if you are working anti-social shifts the last thing you want to do when you get home is cook for yourself.
That was the case for 25-year-old Jen Evett of Stourbridge. While training to be a chef she found her culinary knowledge and waistline grew. At her heaviest she was 16 stone but she signed up for a slimming class six months ago – and has just celebrated a three stones weight loss.
"While I was training I found that I tried everything I was cooking," she said.
"And, because we worked such long hours, by the time I got home I really didn't fancy making anything to eat, especially as I'd spent most of my day cooking.
"So I would go for take aways instead."
A relative suggested giving Slimming World a try so Jen found her local group last year and hasn't looked back since. She has dropped from a size 18/20 to a 12/14 and shrunk from 16 stone to 13 stone and is still hoping to lose another stone or two.
"I've always had a passion for food and cooking so when I left school I went to Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies to train as a chef.
'"During my three years of training, I worked weekends at a local hotel and my placements including some time at the Ritz in London," she said.
"My time in the catering industry seemed to be taking its toll on my waistline. I used to try all the foods and as I was working such anti-social hours by the time I got home I couldn't be bothered to even think about making any food for myself.
"Starting to make myself a meal was the last thing I wanted to do after spending my working day cooking.
"So I would end up eating a lot of take aways," said Jen.
Jen, who has since left the catering industry and is currently working in admin for a firm in Netherton, is so pleased with her Slimming World success that she has decided to run a group herself to help others, every Monday at the Thorns Community College in Quarry Bank. "With Slimming World I can still make dishes I'm proud of and lose weight at the same time," she said.
"I now want to help others on their weight loss journey by being a consultant," she said.
