Peterborough woman set to achieve her dream of running the London Marathon after three-stone weight loss

A slimmer from Peterborough is set to achieve her dream of running the 2023 London Marathon after her three stone weight loss.

On top of achieving her dream weight, Rebecca Coles, 25, is now representing Slimming World in their 14-strong official marathon team this April.

The runners are raising money for Cancer Research UK, the Irish Cancer Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, Slimming World’s official charity partners.

Rebecca is running for Cancer Research UK, as well as aiming to increase awareness of how keeping a healthy weight and moving more can improve people’s health and help reduce the risk of developing some types of cancer. In the East of England, around 38,400 people are diagnosed with cancer every year.

She started to put on weight when she began training as an accountant and her focus switched to her career.

She said: “I would feel so self-conscious going out with my friends and family, and I would spend ages going through my clothes trying to find something I felt comfortable in, rarely letting anyone take photos of me.

“My mum ran the London Marathon in 2021 and I really struggled to follow her along the course as I was constantly tired. This is when I realised, I needed to do something to tackle my weight and fitness so I joined my local Slimming World group.

“My Slimming World group are incredible. They give me the motivation to get through a difficult week and they’ve definitely played a huge part in my weight-loss journey – I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Rebecca followed Slimming World’s Food Optimising healthy eating plan and loved that the flexible plan gave her the knowledge and skills to make changes to the way she ate and improved her understanding of her relationship with food.

She said: “Before I joined Slimming World, I relied on comfort food to help with exam stress. Instead of reaching for comfort food now though, to help deal with stress I go for a run or walk. I also do a lot of meal prep on the weekend, so I’m prepared for the week ahead.

“Slimming World’s Body Magic programme breaks exercise up into smaller bursts, building it up gradually. It worked really well for me and meant I didn’t find it daunting when I first introduced exercise such as swimming and running. I also found the NHS Couch to 5K app worked alongside the Body Magic awards.

“My Gran has undergone treatment for cancer and my Nannie passed away from cancer in 2017. Cancer Research UK is a charity close to my heart and I’m looking forward to raising money for them by running the London Marathon.”

Slimming World Consultant Scott Smith, who runs weekly group sessions in Hampton, added: “Rebecca is a real inspiration to us all and we are so proud of her. When she first came through the door she wanted to lose weight – however, she had no idea what a huge transformation was about to begin and certainly no idea that she would one day be running the London Marathon, it’s incredible!

"She is proof that with self-belief, determination and the right kind of support from a group of people who understand what it feels like to struggle with your weight and truly care about your success, anyone’s weight loss and activity dreams can be achieved.”

Money raised for Cancer Research UK, Irish Cancer Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK helps fund life-saving research. Anyone who would like to sponsor the Slimming World Marathon team can do so by visiting: https://justgiving.com/campaign/SW-LondonMarathon2023.