Sarah is one of our first New You Switch Maintenance Transformation Challenge winners, and her story is a powerful example of what can happen when pain, frustration and a difficult moment become the start of a life-changing transformation.
After being born with bilateral hip dysplasia, Sarah had lived with increasing pain and reduced mobility for years. A difficult appointment with a consultant became the turning point that pushed her to take action.
With The New You Plan, Sarah went on to lose 9.5 stone, reduce her BMI from 42.5 to 25, have her first hip replacement, rebuild her confidence, and learn how to maintain her results.
This is Sarah’s story.
This is Sarah’s Story…
Getting Started
Rachael: Well, hello again, Sarah. How are you?
Sarah: Hello, Rachael. Fine, thank you. Good to meet you again.
Rachael: I get the privilege of speaking to you again, which is fantastic because you were one of the first people I got to speak to when I started doing these interviews.
Sarah: Yes, of course.
Rachael: And you are one of our first winners of the New You Switch for Maintenance category this year in the Transformation Challenge. Congratulations.
Sarah: Thank you very much.
Why Sarah Started The New You Plan
Rachael: I’ve spoken to you before, so I know quite a bit about your story, but I’d love for you to share it again for those just joining or thinking about joining.
Can you tell us why you decided to join The New You Plan?
Sarah: In late 2024, I was in a lot of pain.
I was born with bilateral hip dysplasia, so both hip sockets are malformed. My left side in particular was causing me a lot of pain.
I’d been told for years, “You’re too young, we won’t do anything yet,” so I kept putting it off.
Eventually, it got to the stage where I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I decided to try to get onto the waiting list.
The Appointment That Changed Everything
Sarah: I had a really awful experience with an orthopaedic surgeon.
His manner and demeanour towards me were awful. I hate to use the term fat-shamed, but that is exactly what happened.
I was gaslit. He didn’t believe my symptoms.
He basically told me to move more and eat less. But I couldn’t even walk properly. I could hardly get up the stairs and I was using a walking stick.
That was his full advice: move more, eat less, and come back in a few years.
I had 24 hours of feeling completely defeated. For a lot of people, that would have finished them off, and it nearly did with me.
I couldn’t really speak for several hours afterwards. I was so shocked.
But the next morning, I woke up and had an epiphany. I thought:
“Right. This is it then. I’m going to completely prove you wrong.”
The BMI Goal
Rachael: That must have been such a difficult experience.
Sarah: It was.
At that point, I had no idea what my BMI was. I knew it would be high, but I’d completely avoided thinking about it.
When I weighed myself, my BMI was 42.5.
From speaking to others, I knew that in my area, they were unlikely to even consider putting me on the waiting list unless my BMI was around 30.
So I worked out what I needed to lose to get there.
That was my first goal: get to the weight where I could possibly get on the waiting list. It meant losing around 7 stone.
I managed to get another appointment for the following April, so I had about six or seven months. I thought, “This could be doable.”
Starting New You As A Family
Sarah: I’d seen adverts for The New You Plan, and I had done similar plans before, so I had an idea of how it would work.
I didn’t know much about New You at the time, but my husband decided to do it with me because he wanted to lose three or four stone too.
He is amazing and always supports me in everything I do.
One of my sons did it as well. He doesn’t live with us anymore, but it meant we could all support each other.
It helped in the evenings when we were watching films and might have wanted to snack, because we weren’t tempting each other with food.
And I have to say, the products were so much better than anything I’d tried before.
New You genuinely are the best products I’ve found. They are genuinely nice to eat, which is why I still use them now I’m maintaining.
Total Focus And Determination
Sarah: I was absolutely focused.
My birthday was in December, and I stayed on plan. We went away during that time. Christmas came. Mother’s Day came in March.
I did not deviate from plan at all because I had that appointment date in mid-April in my mind.
The week of that consultation, I reached a BMI of 30.
I reached it that week. I was absolutely determined.
The losses weren’t huge every week, apart from weeks one and two, but I lost every single week. It was constant.
I use Renpho scales, and I could see all the stats going down. At the start, everything was red — body fat, everything.
Then things started going amber.
Now, apart from one measurement that’s still amber, everything is green.
From BMI 42.5 To BMI 25
Sarah: By the time I had my hip replaced at the end of August, I had reached a BMI of 25.
That kept me focused through the summer holidays, barbecues and everything.
After the operation and recovery, I managed to lose a bit more too — probably another half stone.
Because I still need the other hip done, it has kept me on track.
A Better Consultant Experience
Rachael: Are you still waiting for the other hip to be done?
Sarah: Yes, probably this summer. There will likely be about a year between the two.
Rachael: Was it the same consultant when you went back?
Sarah: No, luckily.
Although in some ways, I would have liked it to have been.
The next consultant was lovely. He said he would have done it anyway and that I should have had it done years ago.
You don’t really want to hear that, but he could see my pain levels were not manageable.
Everything just fell into place. It felt like the stars aligned.
Life After Hip Surgery And Weight Loss
Rachael: What is the difference now in your day-to-day life?
Sarah: My life has completely changed.
I could walk the dog again, although unfortunately, we have since lost our elderly dog. But we do puppy-sit my son’s dog, so there is still a dog around.
It was being able to get out and do things you take for granted.
We had let our National Trust membership lapse because there was no point going anywhere unless I could park by the door.
I’m a historian, so I love castles, old buildings and historical places, but my world was getting smaller and smaller because I couldn’t go anywhere.
Now we can do those things again.
We’ve joined an arboretum near us, and we go at weekends.
I still have discomfort in the other hip, but the fact I can actually walk now is incredible.
Whenever I’m out walking, I look around and think, “I can’t believe I couldn’t do this for so long.”
Losing 9.5 Stone
Sarah: I also have lipedema, which is an adipose connective tissue disorder in my legs, and I have a few other skeletal issues that are all linked.
All of those conditions have benefited from me not carrying around the weight.
In the end, I lost 9.5 stone.
I would still like to lose about another half stone, but all of those conditions have improved because I’m not carrying that extra weight anymore.
Recovery, Protein And New You Switch
Rachael: When did you reach your 9.5 stone loss?
Sarah: Around two months after my operation, so probably October time.
While I was recovering, I ate lean proteins alongside the packs, so I was doing a bit of a Switch approach.
I spoke to the orthopaedic surgeon about it, and the nurses and doctors were really positive about the plan.
I’d taken some bars into hospital with me, and they thought it was fantastic.
Rachael: Do you think doing it that way helped you move into maintenance?
Sarah: Yes, absolutely.
It put me in a good place to move into Switch for maintenance.
Learning New Habits
Sarah: I’m a researcher by trade, so I did a lot of research into what I should be eating.
My son is vegetarian, so we looked at protein options for him too — low-fat cheese, eggs, lentils, pulses and things like that.
Sometimes we cook vegetarian meals for all of us.
Cooking from scratch became a big thing too.
You don’t realise how many added things are in some foods until you start looking.
Batch cooking has helped a lot. We portion meals up in the fridge rather than leaving them in one big tub, because that can be a road to ruin!
It works well because, like New You, it gives you that grab-and-go convenience.
Those are transferable skills from the plan.
You learn to eat less and recognise smaller portions.
Recognising Fullness
Sarah: One thing I’ve learned is to wait after eating.
Sometimes I’ll have a New You product and think, “That hasn’t filled me up.”
But if I have a drink and sit for 20 minutes, it never fails. I’ll get on with work, and an hour later I realise I’m not actually hungry.
It’s learning to recognise and work with your body.
We also eat with small spoons, especially porridges, and we’ve bought portion plates too.
The Suit That Changed Everything
Rachael: What was the moment when you realised things had really changed?
Sarah: One of the best moments was when I had to get a suit from Marks and Spencer for a job interview.
I took four different clothes sizes into the fitting room because I had no idea what size I was.
I’d been a size 24, pretty much top and bottom. Because of lipedema, my bottom half has always been bigger.
I am now an 8 on top and a 12 on the bottom.
I walked out of the fitting room and said to my husband and son-in-law, “This fits, right?”
They said, “Yes, it looks really good.”
I showed them the tag because I genuinely could not believe it.
Going from a 22/24 to an 8/12 was just unbelievable.
Loving Clothes Again
Sarah: I love clothes now.
I had kept loads of old clothes in bags in the garage, from size 24 down to smaller sizes.
Getting each of those bags out and trying things on as I lost weight was amazing.
Now they’ve all gone. I wore them for a couple of months and then gave them to charity shops.
Being able to buy new clothes and fit into normal sizes in shops and supermarkets has been a huge thing.
I’m enjoying more colourful outfits too.
Brass Band, Confidence And Breathing Better
Rachael: You sent in a picture with your instrument. What is it called?
Sarah: My flugel. I’m a soloist in a brass band.
We played at the weekend and came fourth, which was a really good result.
A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have done that. I used to play years ago, then stopped for many years.
A lot of it was confidence.
Rachael: Do you think your health improvements have helped with playing?
Sarah: Definitely.
Playing brass instruments is beneficial because it exercises the lungs, but I genuinely have felt an improvement.
My husband is asthmatic, and his asthma has improved too.
What Maintenance Looks Like For Sarah
Rachael: What does your day-to-day maintenance look like now?
Sarah: It will be different for everyone, and I’d say it’s trial and error.
The one thing I recommend is to keep weighing.
I’ve been a yo-yo dieter. In the past, I’d lose weight, get roughly where I wanted to be, think, “Hooray, I’ve done it,” stop weighing, and then go straight back up.
So while you’re trying different things, keep weighing.
For me, I tend to have New You packs during the day for convenience, then a protein-based meal.
We eat a lot of salmon, very low-fat mince, batch-cooked chilli, spaghetti bolognese and things like that.
I haven’t really gone back to having much in the way of carbs. That was trial and error. I tried adding rice or pasta, but I find I either don’t have much or I bulk things out with vegetables.
Frozen mixed vegetables at the bottom of chilli works as well as rice for me.
Enjoying Life With A Plan
Sarah: If we go away, like we’re going to London this weekend, I’ll enjoy myself.
But I’ll have in mind that next week, I’ll be more vigilant again with packs and lean protein.
I won’t weigh myself straight away when I get back because there’s no point watching it go up and down if you already know you’re going to get back on track.
I tend to weigh on a Friday.
You have to take ownership, and it’s trial and error finding what works for you.
Maintaining has actually been harder for me than losing the weight because it took a lot of educating myself — what to eat, recognising fullness, and not bingeing.
Sarah’s Maintenance Advice
Sarah: I have a tolerance level of about five or six pounds. That’s my buffer.
Your body changes with hormones, perimenopause and everything else, so I try to stay within that range.
What works for one person won’t necessarily work for another.
My husband can eat more carbs than me without it affecting him as much, so we approach things differently.
Reintroducing Food Gradually
Sarah: My biggest advice is to start gradually.
One of the first things I’d recommend is fat-free Greek yoghurt with mixed berries. It’s filling, it has no fat, and it’s a good first step.
When I got to where I wanted to be, I started by replacing one meal a day with something like that, or salmon.
I did that for a week and stayed pretty much the same.
It’s all about doing it gradually.
Before, I would have had a mountain of food in a bowl. Now it’s a small handful, and I enjoy eating it.
You learn to savour food instead of eating mindlessly in front of the TV
Alcohol, Choice And Balance
Sarah: I don’t drink alcohol anymore. I never went back to it.
That’s my choice.
My husband does have a beer sometimes, but he’s mindful that day of what else he eats.
It’s not that you can never do these things again — it’s about finding what works for you.
Enjoying Life Again
Rachael: Do you enjoy going away more now?
Sarah: A lot more.
We do investigate where we’re going to eat because we try to eat more healthily, but yes, I definitely appreciate being outside and doing more now.
Confidence And Feeling Her Age Again
Rachael: Has your confidence grown since losing weight?
Sarah: Definitely.
One example is the job interview.
I remember going for an interview a couple of years ago and limping around with my walking stick.
They took us on a tour and there was a big flight of stairs. I was always at the back, out of breath and struggling to keep up.
I didn’t get that job, even though I was qualified.
I came away feeling like I hadn’t given the best account of myself because physically, it had been such an uncomfortable experience.
I felt old before my time.
Now I feel my age again.
I haven’t felt my age for a long time — I felt much older than I was.
Health Benefits Beyond The Hips
Sarah: Walking upstairs, going up hills, not being out of breath — that still amazes me almost every day.
That’s not the hip. That’s the weight I was carrying.
I also enjoy swimming and being in the water. It’s great exercise, especially if you’re carrying more weight because it’s kinder on the joints.
I feel less self-conscious now too.
Before, I was always hiding behind sarongs or cover-ups. Now I don’t feel I need that in the same way.
Maintaining For Six Months
Rachael: What’s your plan now?
Sarah: I’d like to lose another half stone to give myself a bit more buffer.
I’ve maintained around this weight for about six months now, which is amazing.
It is possible to do it.
I started at 20 stone, and I’d like to get to 10 stone.
Staying In The Community
Rachael: Do you still spend time in the communities?
Sarah: Yes, I’m on the chat and I offer advice.
I’ve seen people who are about to go for consultations for different things, and it’s nice to be able to offer genuine advice and hope.
I think it’s a shame when people reach goal and then leave, because nobody is better placed than those of us who have been through it.
We are living through it. I’m still actively involved.
Weight is a lifelong struggle for most people, so the support matters.
What Makes The Community Different
Sarah: You recognise the same names. Some people become close. Everyone comes on with suggestions and support.
It’s not like anything else I’ve seen.
It’s positive, uplifting and wholesome.
I’ve seen other slimming communities, and they don’t have the same vibe.
With New You, it’s positive and encouraging.
You can do it at your own pace, in your own way, but if you want to talk to people, they’re there.
And the company itself is really good if you have product questions.
Final Thoughts
Rachael: I love still seeing you around the communities. You are such a good example of how you can maintain and live through this journey.
It has been amazing talking to you again and hearing how you’re maintaining, especially as you had only just reached goal when I spoke to you last time.
Now you’ve maintained for nearly six months, which is absolutely amazing. Very well done.
Sarah: Thank you very much.
Rachael: Hopefully I’ll speak to you again soon.
Sarah: Thank you. Good to meet you.
Ready To Start Your Own Transformation?
Sarah’s story is proof that one decision can change everything.
From pain, frustration and feeling dismissed…
to losing 9.5 stone, rebuilding confidence, regaining mobility and maintaining her results.
With a simple system, real support and the determination to keep going, your New You could be closer than you think.
Simple system. Four packs a day. Real results.
The post How Sarah Lost 9st 8lbs with 1 Powerful Breakthrough first appeared on The New You Plan.
The post How Sarah Lost 9st 8lbs with 1 Powerful Breakthrough appeared first on The New You Plan.
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