Support and advice from our store team helped Julie and Martin lose 12 stones
A couple who lost 12 stones in weight between them have credited Grape Tree with their impressive life change.
Having easy access to a range of affordable and healthy products, as well as expert advice from shop staff, was key to Julie and Martin Carrick’s transformation.
It was in early 2018 when the two former police officers, then in their late 50s, decided they needed to shed the pounds after discovering they were to become grandparents.
Julie, now 63, says: “I couldn’t face the idea I would be a fat granny of twins – this thought was enough to kickstart a diet plan.”
However, their determination quickly floundered as they struggled unsuccessfully with standard diet plans.
Martin, 65, says: “We were overweight, but we had always remained fairly fit. We enjoyed exercise and we tried many different weight-loss regimes, but nothing worked.”
At the end of their tethers due to conflicting theories and opinions around diet, nutrition and fitness, the couple started doing their own nutritional research. The results have been a lifestyle change with extraordinary success.
Julie says: “Within six months I’d lost seven stones, while Martin lost five. This weight has stayed off. I now weigh 9st 13lbs and Martin is 13st 7lbs. I swapped my size 22 clothes for size 10 and Martin buys medium sized rather than XXL clothes.”
The couple, who have two grown-up sons, transformed their eating habits by including more protein, especially plant-based foods, and cutting out carbohydrates and sugar.
Julie says: “We wanted to try to understand what were nutritionally dense foods and what helped us to lose weight and what didn’t. We did a lot of experimenting with recipes and came up with meals, dishes and snacks that were tasty but much healthier. Many of these are re-worked everyday recipes.”
This is when they became fans of their local Grape Tree store in Skipton, North Yorkshire.
Julie explains: “We were fortunate because the shop manager Alison Harsley has an amazing nutritional knowledge. She gave us many invaluable tips, so we could make healthier product choices.
“We also found the range of foods and supplements at Grape Tree so fantastic. We had tried other sources, but found Grape Tree Support and advice from our store team helped Julie and Martin lose 12 stones has the best variety and they are affordable.”
On the couple’s regular shopping list from Grape Tree are almond and coconut flours, nuts and seeds of all varieties, hemp seed products, cacao powder and Triple Zero Stevia sweetener.
The weight loss results were so incredible that a friend challenged the pair to write a book to help other people, which they called Losing It – It’s Not What You Eat, But What you Don’t Eat That Matters! Recently they published a second title, Losing It! And Loving It!.
The couple, who now have three grandchildren, report that they feel “marvellous”. Martin says:” We are fit, healthy and we still love our food. It is amazing the difference our diet has made.”
