Grandparents who were mortified by their expanding waistlines have shed over 11st between them in eight months after ditching their favourite fry-ups and curries and taking up walking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mark and Amanda Gibbon, from Chepstow in Monmouthshire, resolved to lose weight after Mark, 53, struggled to fasten his seatbelt on a plane and Amanda, 46, fled a changing room in tears because she was so upset by her reflection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pair, who have three children and two grandchildren, overhauled their diets and took up regular walking to drop a combined 11st 5lbs in less than a year – and Mark’s doctor says he’s added 20 years to his life expectancy as a result.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amanda reveals the couple, known to their family as Nan and Bamp, now love to chase their grandkids around rather than collapsing in a chair after ‘five minutes of playing’. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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![\"Amanda](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/04\/06\/08\/3EFF45D700000578-4385514-Amanda_and_Mark_from_Chepstow_in_Monmouthshire_resolved_to_lose_-a-8_1491465520517.jpg\")
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Amanda and Mark, from Chepstow in Monmouthshire, resolved to lose weight together\u00a0<\/p>\n
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![\"Just](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/04\/06\/08\/3EFF45C300000578-4385514-Just_eight_months_on_the_newly_slimline_couple_has_shed_a_combin-a-9_1491465544585.jpg\")
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Just eight months on the newly slimline couple has shed a combined 11st 5lbs – and the grandparents have added years to their life expectancies<\/p>\n
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![\"Mark](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/04\/06\/13\/3F00535E00000578-4385514-image-a-5_1491482500331.jpg\")
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Mark and Amanda Gibbon have been named as Slimming World’s Couple of the Year\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mark has gone from 20st 10.5lbs to 12st 13lbs and lost 14 inches from his waist, while Amanda has gone from 13st 8.5lbs to 9st 12.5lbs, and dropped from a clothes size 18 to a 10.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mark said of the incident that inspired his weight loss journey: ‘It was beyond embarrassing having to ask for a seatbelt extension, you just know all eyes are on you and can almost hear people whispering “look, he needs a seatbelt extension”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘And the worst thing is that you know you’re going to have to ask for one on the way back too.’\u00a0<\/p>\n Of his wife, Mark said: ‘Amanda hated shopping and on one occasion ended up fleeing a changing room in floods of tears because she couldn’t find anything to fit, and hated seeing herself from every angle in the mirror.<\/p>\n ‘It was things like that that made us think that something really needed to change.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n The pair swapped their favourite sugary cereals, fry-ups and curries for oats, poached eggs and veggie-packed stir fries<\/p>\n The couple admit they’ve always struggled with their weight and have tried endless diets in bids to bring it under control, including juice diets, calorie counting and low-carb plans.<\/p>\n But after being encouraged to join Slimming World by their daughter, Rachel, 29, they established a healthy routine of nutritious meals and regular walking.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Breakfast: Cooked full English, bacon and egg roll or sugary cereal (Crunchy Nut Cornflakes were a favourite)<\/p>\n Lunch: Something from a petrol station like pork pies, sausage rolls and crisps.<\/p>\n Dinner: Processed foods like curry made with a jarred sauce with sauces, followed by apple pie with ice cream or custard.<\/p>\n Snacks: Crisps, chocolate bars, biscuits, cakes, buttery toast, sandwiches\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Breakfast: Poached eggs on toast or overnight oats (porridge oats mixed with fat-free yogurt and fresh fruit).<\/p>\n Mid-morning: Fruit or veg sticks<\/p>\n Lunch: Homemade butternut squash soup or a salad<\/p>\n Mid-afternoon: Fruit<\/p>\n Dinner: Seafood paella or lamb with green veg stir fry, followed by a fat-free yogurt or stewed apple with mincemeat<\/p>\n Evening: A small bar of chocolate.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n The couple have even started their own walking group. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘It was never supposed to be my weight-loss journey,’ Mark said.<\/p>\n ‘I was going to follow the plan at home to support Amanda and that was it. I thought a Slimming World group would be a roomful of ladies and didn’t think that would suit me because of that, but little did I know how inspirational those ladies would be.<\/p>\n ‘Our group is like a family to us now.’\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘I told Mark I needed him to come in with me and the rest is history,’ said Amanda.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mark and Amanda, from Chepstow, before embarking on their lifestyle overhaul<\/p>\n The couple say they tried endless low carb diets and juice plans to try and bring their weight under control\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0‘We’ve learned how to cook from scratch and experiment with flavours \u2013 we often joke that we didn’t know what a butternut squash or courgette was before Slimming World,’ she said.<\/p>\n ‘The biggest change we made was starting to plan our meals though. Now we sit down on a Sunday and make a weekly menu and whatever happens in the week we know what we’re eating.’<\/p>\n Mark and Amanda have now been crowned Slimming World’s Couple of the Year 2017<\/p>\n As well as changing their eating habits, Mark and Amanda decided to try becoming more active too.\u00a0<\/p>\n They now enjoy running and have started their own walking group with some members of their Slimming World group.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Lots of people were reluctant to do any exercise because they thought they had to join a gym or start jogging and they found that far too intimidating,’ said Amanda.<\/p>\n ‘At our Slimming World group we talk about starting slowly when it comes to getting moving and building up until regular activity is a habit, and the walking group shows people just how beneficial that can be.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘We go out once a fortnight and now there’s loads of us \u2013 everyone’s welcome \u2013 and it’s great fun.’<\/p>\n Now the couple are able to run around after their grandchildren, Amanda said.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Life is just amazing now. We’re healthier \u2013 Mark’s doctor told him that he’s probably added 20 years to his life \u2013 and so much fitter.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘We love running around after our grandchildren instead of being ‘Nan and Bamp’ who just sit in the chair or puff and pant after just five minutes of playing.’\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Grandparents who were mortified by their expanding waistlines have shed over 11st between them in eight months after ditching their favourite fry-ups and curries and taking up walking.\u00a0 Mark and Amanda Gibbon, from Chepstow in Monmouthshire, resolved to lose weight after Mark, 53, struggled to fasten his seatbelt on a plane and Amanda, 46, fled Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167527\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/04\/05\/21\/3EE066E600000578-0-image-m-9_1491423307808.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nTHE GIBBONS’ DIET BEFORE…\u00a0<\/h3>\n
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![\"Mark](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/04\/06\/09\/3EFF45E700000578-4385514-Mark_and_Amanda_from_Chepstow_before_embarking_on_their_lifestyl-a-21_1491467731570.jpg\")
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![\"Mark](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/04\/06\/09\/3EFF45C700000578-4385514-Mark_and_Amanda_have_now_been_crowned_Slimming_World_s_Couple_of-a-15_1491466966255.jpg\")
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