“IT’S only taken 30 years – but it’s never too late to reach your dreams.” Those are the inspiring words of Barbara Greenwood, who after a lifetime of battling with her weight has realised her dream by running in the London marathon and has raised well over £4,000 for cancer research.

Everyone at Thinking Slimmer is very proud of Barbara and we wish her well for the big event. She’s our fourth Marathon runner and like the others she is a remarkable role model for anyone who wants to transform their lives by losing weight.

Here’s Barbara and I with her medal at the finish

Barbara has gone from a size 28 to a size 16 by using a Slimpod to train her brain to eat less and do more. “It was as if someone had reached inside my mind and turned down the volume on my appetite,” says Barbara, 50, from Mansfield, Notts.

What a transformation in Barbara

“I am already a winner.  I am lighter than I’ve been in most of my adult life, and a lot healthier as well. I’ve already raised well over £4,000 for Cancer Research.   That’s a good chunk of money to help defeat cancer, which one in three of us will develop during our lifetimes.

“But most of all, I will have the satisfaction of having set myself a challenging goal, and reached it. It’s only taken 30 years – but it’s never too late to reach your dreams.”

Barbara’s nurse has recorded her BMI dropping from 46 to 32. And for the first time in 15 years, Barbara has been taken off her type 2 diabetes medication.

I’m sure many of you would like to sponsor Barbara as she raises money for such a worthy cause as cancer research and if you hurry there’s still time, so here’s a link to her Just Giving page:

Sponsor Barbara and help beat cancer >>

In this series of blogs called It Started With A Slimpod, I’ll be sharing more inspiring stories of ordinary people who are achieving extraordinary things. This is Barbara’s heart-warming story in her own words:

“In 1985 I watched coverage of the London Marathon on my little portable TV in my student house in Southampton.  I was 21 years old, and despite having been a very active child and sporty teenager, I had become very overweight and almost entirely sedentary.

“I loved the idea of the marathon, but it was impossible.  Later that year, I went on a strict diet, lost over six stone, and along the way took up running.  In 1985, I completed three half marathons. I applied for, and got, a place in the London Marathon in 1987.

“But I had not dealt with the underlying issue of my relationship with food.  By the time spring came round, I had already regained nearly 4 stone, developed a knee problem, and was forced to withdraw from the marathon.  My running career was over, and the weight gain continued, despite many attempts to control it.

“Wind forward to 2012.  I weighed 21 and a half stone (300lbs, 136kg) and had a range of health problems related to my weight.  I started ‘one last attempt’ to change my eating habits, while investigating weight loss surgery.

“But then I found Slimpods, special recordings which worked on my unconscious mind, and substantially changed the way I responded to food.  Thank goodness I found out about Slimpods, because 35 years of dieting never made me lose weight. Now I have a new lease of life.

“The effects of the Slimpod were dramatic – right away, I could hear the voice saying ‘one bite at a time’ whenever I ate something and ‘listen to the signal from your body that you’ve had enough to eat.

“Within a few days I was leaving food on my plate, declining biscuits with no struggle at all, and soon had to give myself smaller portions. My capacity for chocolate used to be practically unlimited, but now I can go for days or weeks and not even think about it.

“Now I’m 14 stone (196 pounds), so that’s over six stone lost since I started listening to my Slimpods and 7 stone 7lbs (105 pounds) altogether. I no longer binge eat, seldom eat enough that I feel stuffed, and I find that I can enjoy small amounts of treats, which are treats, and not a staple food which I eat lots of every day.

“After 15 months of gym-based exercise, I took up running in April 2013. My sister had been diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2012, and my Mum with malignant melanoma in March 2013, and then breast cancer in August 2013.  I wanted to do something!!!

“As soon as I started running, it was with the idea that, just maybe, I could fulfill that 30-year old dream, and run the marathon.  I applied for a place in the London Marathon ballot, and was unsuccessful, but I had also applied to Cancer Research UK for a place.  I heard in September 2013 that I had been offered a place, and pledged to raise a minimum of £2,500.

“Ever since then, I have been training towards the Marathon on  April 13.  I’ve had setbacks along the way, including a pulled calf muscle, which has limited my ability to train.  But along the way I have learned so much which chimes with the whole Slimpod ethos.

“I’ve learned about goal setting, believing in myself, and focusing on the positive.  To complete a marathon, you need to be determined and focused, but you can’t afford to be perfectionist.

“I congratulate myself for the training I’m doing, which is step by step getting me ready to run 26.2 miles.  And when I have a bad day, or a setback, or something stops me doing the session I’d planned, I shrug it off and move on.”

People like Barbara Greenwood are achieving extraordinary things with the help of their Slimpods and Fitpods. Recently a lady emailed me to say she’d reached her goal of swimming 100 lengths of the pool in training for Sport Relief – even though she thought she’d only manage 40.

If you’re doing something amazing I’d love to hear about it so please leave a comment below.