A cuppa with… Carol Cooney

Occupation?

Team leader for a sales admin team at an IT distributor.

What county/country do you live in?

Lancashire, God’s county.

What made you choose Nuush?

Sensible plan, nice real food. There were no quick fixes offered just honesty, good food and support.

How long have you been with Nuush and had you tried other diets?

I joined at the end of February 2017. Weight Watchers several times, lost weight each time by fiddling the system but learnt nothing and put it back on.

What inspires you?

People choosing the hard option and winning at it.

What’s your desert island food?

Potatoes, don’t really care how they are cooked, just plate them up. But if I had to pick, steamed Jersey’s with a bit of salt and dripping in butter.

What are the joys and benefits of Nuush?

Joys: it’s proper food, nothing you can’t pronounce and you can eat anywhere. The Facebook group is so helpful and supportive – with life stuff as well as food things – which helps as so many bad habits are because of life, so having a place to share is really good. I still get to have pudding with no guilt.

Benefits: Where to start! I don’t get hungry between meals anymore. I look forward to my meals rather than it’s just something to fill a hole. My eczema has almost disappeared so I am not an angry itchy person anymore. I sleep better and have more energy, so I’m overall a lot more balanced in my moods. I feel able to be more active, it might just be a walk but I know it all counts.

One piece of advice for anyone living with you?

I’m never wrong, just accept that, and no that isn’t how the dishwasher is stacked.

Most interesting thing you’ve learnt this week?

Pumpkin carving for Halloween originates from an old English tradition of carving turnips for All Saint’s day when kids would go door to door begging for soul cakes for the dead. We have ended up with pumpkins after Irish migrants landed in North America and discovered the pumpkin was easier to carve and more available. I always thought it was a tradition imported from the USA, but it’s actually a creation from Blighty.

What’s your food nemesis?

I used to have lots and was a very picky eater. I still don’t like meat, any type of eggs except scrambled and celery unless its invisible in soup. I went to Peru a few years ago and there was no choice, eat it or go hungry. I very quickly got over myself and tucked into whatever was put in front of me.

Favourite Nuush meal?

Tomato and Halloumi bake.

Favourite form of activity?

Walking the fells or watching whippet zoomies on the beach.

What’s one of family’s speciality dishes?

We do a mean tomato sauce for pasta.

One big thing you’ve learnt from Nuush?

Patience and acceptance.

Last thing you ate?

Soup.

What one piece of health advice would you give people?

It took longer than a week to put it on, don’t be surprised when it takes more than a week to get it off.

Tell us something about yourself that people will find riveting?

“I see dead people”, it’s a classic line from one of my favourite films. I don’t see them, but I can feel them quite often. I have helped to ask some spirits leave my sister-in-law’s old house, they were nice enough about it when we chatted and I explained how they made the current occupants feel. I can’t go into a cemetery or really old church on my own, if there are any unhappy or malevolent types in there I feel surrounded and my body temp drops right down and I feel suffocated. I love these places though but only visit with my wife so she can ‘rescue’ me if I get jittery about it.