NHS nurse Laura-Beth Ives from Tameside dropped from 15.5 stone to 10.5 stone using a nine-minute daily app alongside healthy eating and exercise
Amanda Killelea and Jane Lavender
07:00, 25 Mar 2026
Laura-Beth Ives with her old uniform(Image: Slimpod)
Yo-yo dieter Laura-Beth Ives shed an impressive five stone in just six months, requiring just nine minutes of daily commitment.
Nurse Laura-Beth, from Tameside, Greater Manchester, put on weight during maternity leave after welcoming her son five years ago.
She’d attempted numerous diets to lose the extra pounds and keep them off, but repeatedly found herself returning to square one.
Now, however, she managed to achieve a remarkable five stone weight loss in half a year, thanks to an innovative weight loss initiative being trialled at the hospital where she works.
Laura-Beth gave the Slimpod app a go, which employs neuroscience methods for just nine minutes each day to alter people’s mindset and relationship with food, reports the Express.
Laura-Beth shed five stone in just six months(Image: Slimpod)
The app supposedly enables users to naturally opt for healthier choices and boost their physical activity, ultimately leading to enhanced willpower and subsequent weight reduction.
The mum-of-one was amazed by the results.
She’s since dropped from a size 18 to a size 10, slimming down from 15 and a half stone to just 10 and a half stone.
Laura-Beth explained: “Several times I’ve lost weight but put it all back on, and more.
Laura-Beth says she knows she will keep the weight off(Image: Slimpod)
“I managed to get to a size 12 a few years ago but was such an emotional eater that the weight just went back on – I could easily eat a full big bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and would snack on sweet stuff non-stop at work to keep me going.
“Since I started the Slimpod programme it’s all changed – it was like a switch flicking in my head.
“I no longer reach for sugary food for comfort, my shopping basket is full of healthy food and I take healthy food into work too.”
Laura-Beth featured on How to Lose Weight Well on Channel 4, where Dr Xand Van Tulleken explores whether unconscious persuasion could hold the key to the future of weight loss.
Slimpod founder Sandra Roycroft-Davis has been using the method with hundreds of NHS staff across the nation.
Laura-Beth Ives dropped five stone(Image: Slimpod)
The system combines video coaching with a unique audio recording requiring just nine minutes of listening each day.
It works by gently reprogramming the mind to transform your relationship with food and self-perception.
Sandra Roycroft-Davis, a Harley Street weight loss expert, says: “Where you used to get pleasure from unhealthy food and sugary snacks, your brain starts learning how to feel good when you eat healthy food and take exercise instead.
“Slimpod helps you lose weight without depriving yourself and does what diets can’t.
“The focus is on changing your behaviour towards food and importantly, taking the emotion out of eating.
“By empowering you to control what you eat and motivating you to be more active, you lose weight without even having to think about it.”
Laura-Beth added: “I’m feeling great – far more positive, confident and healthier. I don’t get out of breath any more and don’t worry about not fitting in my uniform.
“I also exercise three times a week and love it – I’d prefer to be exercising than eating now!
“I know the weight will stay off, because my new eating and exercise habits are here to stay – they’ve become automatic.”
The scheme Laura-Beth took part in saw 100 hospital staff members from Tameside Hospital embark on a 12-week challenge, designed to help them shed pounds.
Alongside the Slimpod programme, staff could choose from nutritious menu options available in the hospital restaurant.
The initiative proved to be a tremendous success.
An impressive 87% of participants lost weight whilst using the Slimpod throughout the three-month project, and 90% reported changes in behaviour, noting they had cut down on snacking, with most losing their appetite for sugar altogether.
Before using Slimpod this is what Laura-Beth used to eat on a typical day:Breakfast – cereal or toast with jamLunch – would be starving and just grab a sandwich or some breadDinner – usually pizza or spaghetti bolognaiseSugar consumption – a big chocolate bar every day and hidden sugars in the food. Chocolate was a huge problem.This is what Laura-Beth eats on a typical day now:Breakfast – scambled egg/banana and fruitLunch – tuna, chicken, salon or cottage cheese salad.Dinner – homemade pizza but made from a wrap. Puts loads of veg and tuna etc on it