Georgia Sailing, 43, and Francesca Sammarco, 26, have become completely different people since shedding an astonishing 6 stone between them, in less than a year. They also now run their own Slimming World groups in the heart of the Greek Cypriot community of North London.

Georgia, having tried every diet under the sun, including shakes and diet tablets, struggled with her yo-yoing weight since her early 20s; “I was bitterly unhappy, lacking in confidence and miserable for being overweight,” Georgia recalls. “I wanted to wear something other than tents all the time to hide my lumps and bumps.”

Before and after Francesca

Similarly Francesca, at 26, felt like a social recluse and didn’t want to go out with her friends anymore since piling on the weight during her early 20s as she felt pitied for how she looked.

Things began to change for the bubbly twosome when they were introduced to Slimming World. “I was absolutely petrified before walking through the doors,” Francesca remembers. “I could not stop worrying about being judged by a room full of strangers for needing support to lose weight but I could not have been more wrong. Instead, I was greeted at the door by the consultant who made me feel really welcome in a room filled with smiles and laughter.”

“When I first sat down, I was expecting a list of all my favourite foods only to be told that I could not eat them. I was absolutely incredulous to learn that I could eat unlimited quantities of pasta and meat AND still lose weight. Meals are completely family friendly and the plan is far too generous to be even called a “diet.” The support from everyone in group is what has made this different from all the other diets that lasted no more than 5 hours,” says Francesca.

Before and after Georgia

“In my first week, I learnt how to adapt my traditional Greek dishes, like moussaka, dolmades, the lentil and pulse dishes I enjoy and Greek BBQs and I was astonished that I still lost 6lbs!”

“I have always been a last minute.com jar or freezer queen, but now I am happy to cook from scratch to produce tasty meals for all the family” says Georgia.

“Slimming World has completely changed my life – I can still join in with all the family get togethers and nights out and still lose weight. I love my food and the beauty of Slimming World is that nothing is off limits! After 12 years of being a stay at home mum, I am ready to share my experience and knowledge to help and inspire others to lose weight too. In less than a year, I have become super confident, happy and most of all, I feel sexy again, rather than just being a mum,” Georgia added.

Their lives have changed so much thanks to Slimming World that both Georgia and Francesca now run their own groups.

Georgia’s Winchmore Hill group runs on Thursdays at 7:30pm at the Old Grammarians Rugby Club, N21 1EP and Francesca’s Wood Green group runs on Mondays at 7:30pm at the Cypriot Centre, Earlham Grove, N22 5HJ.

For more information, contact Georgia on 07891 692 658 or Francesca on 07934 843 862.