Richard and Vikki's story

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North Dorset residents Vikki and Richard started their LiveWell journey back in 2016. As part of his rehab after an operation, his nurse suggested that Vikki and Richard to contact us to take steps towards a healthier lifestyle. We caught up with Vikki to hear their story:

“The turning point was post-op for open heart surgery. Our nurse explained how LiveWell was a service that could help us to lose weight. We gave LiveWell Dorset a call and an advisor discussed how they could support us. We were offered a three-month kick start to a weight loss group.

I had been to Slimming World before, but the opportunity to go along with Richard and work at it together was incredibly helpful. We were expecting our first grandchild later that year and were determined to be a good role model for our grandchildren.

By the end of our twelve-weeks, both of us had lost over 1.5 stone

Our eating habits were transformed. Previously, we used to snack on nibbles and drink alcohol most nights – lots of crisps! We still enjoy a tipple and snack, but only at the weekends; have smaller portion sizes and healthier options.

Before losing the weight; walking and moving was hard. My knees would hurt quite a lot, I had heartburn and broken night's sleep. This is no longer the case! Our second grandchild arrived, and we are happy to be able to keep up with them, to be able to get down and play on the floor with them. We don't feel as sluggish any more. We enjoy gardening, walking, and I sell greetings cards – all these activities are much easier now we've shed the weight. With a looming hip replacement operation, Richard's weight loss sped up his recovery.

We're back at the fitness levels we had 10-years ago

It just feels great! It had been getting us both down – we just didn't feel that we could do anything about it. It's nice to look back at our weight loss books and certificates to see how far we've come. We found the support of the Slimming World group helpful and still go regularly. The first group can be scary, but they understand. We've made so many friends there. Our family have been really supportive, our daughter and son in law have joined also."

Richard has lost three stone and I have lost nearly three and a half stone!

Vikki

Thank you to everyone at LiveWell. What an amazing service.

How does this work?

The tailored approach LiveWell Dorset uses to come up with solutions to the things that are stopping us achieving our goals, is based upon work done by University College London developing the COM-B model of behaviour change. In this model, all behaviour is influenced by understanding a person’s capability to change, their opportunity to change and their motivation to change. By understanding which of these is the biggest barrier to change, we can tailor support accordingly. This model of behaviour change is at the centre of the support we offer, online and in person.

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