40st couple who 'gorged on lockdown takeaways' now look amazing

Standing side-by-side, grandparents Jo Beveridge and John Durkin have beaming smiles as they show off their new look. The Lancashire pair say they tucked into takeaways and indulgent meals during lockdown as 'it was all they had to look forward to'.

But as they neared a combined 40st on the scales, the pair became unhappy with how they looked. Jo, 50, and John, 52, swapped the junk food for homemade, low-calorie meals, and have now been named Slimming World's 'couple of the year'.

Accounts executive Jo said: “If I’m honest with myself, I’d been unhappy with my weight ever since our first son Alex was born. When Liam arrived a few years later, it became even more difficult to find time to eat healthily.

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“I’d try to lose weight before a big event or holiday, but it would be a quick fix and I always ended up back where I started as soon as I started eating ‘normally’ again. Lockdown meant that we sought comfort in food when we were away from our family and friends - sometimes having a takeaway or indulgent meal was all we had to look forward to.

“It meant we developed some quite unhealthy habits which were then hard to shake even when we came out of lockdown." Before the Burnley couple joined Slimming World in September 2021, John tipped the scales at 21st 8lbs (136kg) while Jo reached 17st 6lbs (110kg).

Having become fed up at how they looked and felt, out went the supermarket meal deals for lunch and high calorie beer and wine with a takeaway. Instead, they now prepare fresh salads for lunch and enjoy lower calorie food cooked made from scratch.

And when they drink, they now have spirits with a low-calorie mixer and alternate