Beverley (‘Bev’) Walker, a 59-year-old woman, has recently completed the 12-session Eatwise programme with Wellbeing for Life (WBFL) and has described her ‘amazing’ journey.

Before accessing WBFL, Bev was described her mental state at the time as: “not depressed as such, but down. I’ve gone through quite a lot of trauma, and my weight is affected by my emotions.”

Wellbeing for Life is part of Adult Wellbeing Services and is delivered in partnership by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and the Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP).

She moved up to the North East from Doncaster to look after her parents, and following the passing of her mum in 2019, Bev joined a weight loss organisation; however, this only worked temporarily.

Bev then sadly lost her dad last year. She said following this: “my emotions were all over the place. The clothes weren’t looking great. I felt frumpy. I was starting to feel as if I looked old.”

Bev first accessed WBFL following a wellness check with her GP. Upon discovering that she had high cholesterol, and not wanting to go on statins, Bev tried to lose weight on her own. After this didn’t work for her, she contacted her GP who then referred her to WBFL.

Having accessed various other weight loss programmes in the past, Bev was initially sceptical about Eatwise.

However, scepticism soon changed into optimism with the arrival of Jules Howe, Wellbeing Practitioner and Community Connector.

From first contact, it was clear the process would be personalised; that there were lots of options to suit Bev’s wants and needs. The pair used the emotions Bev was feeling before entering the programme to set goals together – a collaboration based on what Bev wanted out of the process, and to bring her BMI down.

Jules said of the Eatwise programme: “So we don’t deprive, we definitely do not diet. We don’t – I don’t – want people to be hungry and miserable and that’s what you are when you’re on a diet. It’s a lifestyle, everything in moderation.”

The overall aim was to improve her health in general; but Bev set herself two goals: to go skiing next year for her 60th birthday – which she hasn’t been able to do due to the strain on her joints – and to come off statins.

Bev said about this goal setting: “Everything I’ve done here has been tailor-made, really, for me. And Jules has been really caring. She’s understood my needs really well.”

The 12-session Eatwise programme is about balance and changing your relationship with food. How to make better choices and implementing this, not just for the course of the programme, but moving forward with your life.

The programme has changed how Bev looks at food. Even her ‘tastebuds have changed’. She used to really love chocolate, but she’s changed from snacking on that to other things.

Bev said: “A rice cake is becoming sweet for me. So I have chocolate rice cakes, of course, because I do like chocolate.” Other habits have changed too, naturally: having lesser portions or, changing oils she uses to cook.

Wellbeing for Life’s goal is to empower people, and this is what Eatwise has done for Bev – she feels that she’s ‘taken control’.