Come along to a Low Carb Meeting at the Guildhall in Finchingfield, held at 18:30 on third Monday of each month. Led by Public Health Collaboration Ambassador Viv Hamilton, each meeting will include a different topic to help you use a low carb approach to achieve your health goals.
At the meetings you can: connect with others following a low carb approach and put your questions to one of the PCN Low Carb Programme GP leads, Dr Oliver or Dr Andrews; listen to presentations that will help you to lose weight, reduce your medication or even put your type 2 diabetes into remission.
No need to book, just turn up!
Parking at Freshwell Health Centre, Wethersfield Rd, Finchingfield, Braintree CM7 4BQ.
About Viv Hamilton
Viv Hamilton lives in Wethersfield, Essex. She lost more than 6st over three years after following a low-carb diet. She says:
I first embarked on low-carb hoping it would help me lose weight while waiting for a knee replacement operation — but ended up losing more than 6st, significantly reducing my blood pressure medication and putting an end to my migraines and irritable bowel syndrome.
I feel I’ve been given a whole new shot at life. I’d developed arthritis in my right knee but Covid struck before I could have the operation. I’d been obese for most of my life and tried most diets — I’d lose a stone, then put it back on because I was starving and obsessing about food.
Low-carb was originally suggested to my husband — who’d had a heart valve replacement — as a way of controlling his blood pressure, by our GP Dr David Oliver in February 2020. I joined in and was totally astonished to find I wasn’t remotely hungry. Cooking with butter and cream was a real luxury and helped me feel full. The weight just dropped off. I went from 17st 5lb to 11st — I’m 5ft 7½in — and from a dress size 22 to a 14, trimming my waist from 42in to 28in. And there were massive — if unexpected — health benefits.
My blood pressure, which had been high for five years, started dropping within weeks and I’ve been able to reduce my medication, from 5mg of doxazosin and ramipril a day, to 2.5mg of ramipril. I’d had IBS since I was a child, which was getting worse: this, too, cleared up. I’ve not had a migraine since, either — I used to get one a month before. Best of all, I no longer need a knee replacement, as the pain disappeared in four months.
