Staying trim, fit and healthy is no longer just determined by what you eat, as scientists are increasingly concerned with when you eat, too. 

A growing body of evidence suggests that eating the majority of calories as early as possible in the day could accelerate weight loss, lower blood pressure and keep you fuller for longer.

Last year, scientists from Slovenia found restricting meals to an 8am to 4pm window resulted in ten pounds weight loss over three months, as well as reduction in body fat and stabilisation of blood sugar levels. 

Critics say the effect is merely a result of fitting in fewer calories in a shorter space of time.

But is that really the extent of the benefit?

According to registered dietitian Sophie Medlin, there is reason to consider meal timings – and not just for those looking to lose weight. 

The body’s ability to utilise food depends on the interaction with our daily routine; that is, the time we wake up, sleep and exercise, she says. 

Here, she reveals the truth about the optimum time for breakfast, lunch and dinner – and the worst time to snack if you’re looking to shift extra pounds. 

Is eating earlier really better?

There’s no denying that research suggests eating more of our energy earlier in the day could produce some benefits for weight and heart health, says Ms Medlin. 

Perhaps the most in-depth study is a 2024 meta-analysis⁠ which found that earlier calorie distribution and time-restricted eating produced reductions in weight – albeit relatively small.

‘Our bodies run on approximately 24-hour circadian rhythms,’ says Ms Medlin. ‘These influence how good our body is at converting blood sugar to energy and digesting food, as well as the level of our appetite hormones.’

In general, the body is more efficient at converting sugars in food into energy – and therefore calories burned – during the most active part of the day.

‘Eating earlier gives us more opportunity to use energy through movement,’ she adds. 

One 2022 Harvard study asked 16 overweight and obese adults to stick to an early eating schedule for two weeks, and then pushed the meals back by four hours, but consuming the same calorie intake.

Early eaters ate one hour after waking – at around 8am, on average, – while the late eaters waited five hours, with some having their first meal as late as 12pm. 

Those in the early group ate dinner at around 4.30pm, compared to 8.30pm in the late group. 

Results showed that those on the later schedule had much higher blood levels of hormones associated with hunger, and lower levels of compounds released in response to fullness. 

The researchers concluded that eating later could trigger changes in the gut that increase hunger signals, risking weight gain.

Big names including Rishi Sunak, Jennifer Aniston and Hugh Jackman swear by fasting to keep their health and weight on track

However, Ms Medlin caveats: ‘This study is interesting but it only involved 16 adults. More conclusive evidence is needed to prove the theory.’ 

She admits, though, that delaying most of our food until late evening could disrupt appetite regulation, and make blood sugars go awry. 

What about skipping breakfast?

Intermittent fasting – which involves limiting calorie intake for a few days a week – remains popular among Britons. 

Most adherents follow a similar schedule: skipping breakfast and saving their calories for lunch and dinner, while cutting out the snacks.

A review on the diet plan published earlier this year suggested it could result in a body weight reduction of about 3 per cent (roughly five and a half pounds in an average man).

However, a wealth of other reviews have found that the benefits are likely just the result of eating fewer calories. 

Scientists have found similar weight loss with other low-calorie diets. And some research suggests skipping breakfast could cause you to overeat. 

One large observational study examining the dietary records of 23,488 American adults found that people who skipped both breakfast and lunch consumed, on average, about 187 more calories at dinner.

Another study involving almost 3,000 older adults found delaying the first meal of the day by even an hour was associated with an 11 per cent higher risk of death. 

‘Skipping breakfast risks a pattern whereby you eat very little throughout the day and then consume a large proportion of the day’s food late at night,’ says Ms Medlin.

‘This can encourage overeating, and large, rich meals close to bed may cause reflux, bloating or disturbed sleep.’

She adds that, as the body is less able to convert food to energy at night, excess calories are more likely to be stored as fat. 

Is there an optimum time for every meal?

According to Ms Medlin, there aren’t any specific timings that guarantee that we won’t overeat, become sluggish, or lose focus.

However, there are ‘useful windows’ to stick to which are based on the strongest scientific evidence. 

‘Breakfast could be eaten within around one to two hours of waking up, lunch approximately four to five hours later, and dinner ideally two to three hours before bed,’ says Ms Medlin.

‘For someone following a conventional sleep pattern, that might mean breakfast between 7am and 9am, lunch between 12pm and 2pm, and dinner between 6pm and 8pm.’

But most crucial is ensuring the hours before bed are not the ‘main eating period of the day’, she adds. 

‘Finishing a main meal approximately two to three hours before lying down is a sensible target. This provides time for digestion and can reduce reflux or discomfort.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has thanked party leaders for their support following the death of his father, Roy, on Monday.

All opposition leaders sent condolences to him as he cancelled engagements earlier this week.

Burnham had previously spoken about the fact his dad did not know he had become prime minister, due to his advanced Alzheimer’s.

Posting on social media, he thanked, external “everyone who has shared a kind message about my dad, particularly the leaders of the other parties”.

Burnham added: “My family and I have been helped though this difficult time by people’s warmth and compassion. It means a great deal to us and we wanted to say thank you.”

Speaking to journalists on his first day back at work on Wednesday, Burnham thanked all those who had sent “so many lovely messages” to him and his family.

“It’s hard and it will be hard for a little while but better to get back to the job,” he said.

“I also want to thank the leaders of the other parties, all of whom sent a message, and it shows there is decency in British politics still and that’s lovely to see, so thank you from us all, the whole family.

“But my dad would want me to be back out there bringing some of the changes that he always pushed me to make.”

He has described how his father, a former telephone engineer, had raised him with “laughter, love and support” alongside his mother Eileen in Culcheth, Cheshire.

In July, Burnham spoke about his father’s condition and said it had influenced his drive to reform adult social care in England.

The husband, a man in his 60s from Stockport, pleaded guilty to 60 charges

The trial of 12 men accused of sexual offences is expected to start next month after a husband admitted drugging and raping his wife over a 20-year period.

The husband, a man in his 60s from Stockport, pleaded guilty to 60 charges. His guilty pleas were entered on Monday (September 14).

He admitted charges of rape, assault by penetration, administering a substance with intent, sexual assault, attempted rape and sharing intimate photographs or film. The husband will no longer feature as a defendant in the trial.

Click here to hear the latest from Manchester’s courts in our newsletter

The Manchester Evening News and other media organisations are not naming the husband in order to protect the anonymity of his wife. The law entitles her to anonymity for life. A further 12 defendants are due to go on trial on October 5. They all deny sexual offences.

They are David Graves, 59, of Milton Avenue, Derbyshire; Robert Stewart, 70, of Sandpiper Drive, Stockport; Karl Lindsay, 56, of Wordsworth Drive, Taunton; Philip Wild, 58, of St Davids Road, Cheadle; Graham Brougham, 74, of Birtwistle Road, Rudheath; Northwich, Daniel Rayner, 42, of Sherwood Drive, Whitstable; Sean Peers, 38, of Sandwich Road, Eccles; Mohammed Sabir, 28, of no fixed address; Jordan Wallace, 31, of Hindsford Close; Wythenshawe, Alan Keelan, 42, of Foscarn Drive, Wythenshawe; Richard Townsend, 37, of Woodland Street, Heywood; and Jonathan Kirk, 43, of Telford Close, Macclesfield.

The jury were originally sworn in on September 4 and were recalled to court today (September 16) to be addressed by Judge Maurice Greene. He told jurors: “You were told amongst other things that the prosecution’s case concerns allegations of sexual offending by a number of men on a female.

“You were also told that 14 men have been identified to date and one of them was [the husband]. That is [the wife’s] husband.

“Some of you may have seen or heard on the news on Monday that a man from Stockport had pleaded guilty to drugging and raping his wife, and that he admitted multiple offences of rape, attempted rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault and administering a substance with intent.

“His identity is protected in the public domain to protect [his wife’s] identity. Of course the man who pleaded guilty was [the husband]. He will no longer be a defendant in this case.

“As a result of those pleas, there is work to be done by the parties in this case. You were also told that the case could not sit in any event in the week commencing September 28.

“That is still the case. What I am going to do is ask you to come back to this court on Monday October 5. On that date I anticipate the trial will commence.”

The judge said he hoped that the trial would conclude by December 18.

Proceeding.

The probe will cover the period of his 21-year membership of the party

The Ulster Unionist Party has launched an independent safeguarding review into Jeffrey Donaldson, covering the period of his 21-year membership of the party from 1982 to his resignation in December 2003.

The review has been commissioned by UUP leader Jon Burrows MLA and will be led by Anne Marks, an independent, trauma-informed safeguarding consultant with more than thirty years’ frontline experience in trauma and victim-survivor support. Anne Marks will be supported by an advisory group of independent victim advocates.

The UUP said the review will provide a “confidential, independent, and trauma-informed channel” for anyone with relevant information to come forward. This includes members of the public, former and current Ulster Unionist Party members, staff, constituency workers, elected representatives, volunteers, witnesses and confidants.

The party said it is “deliberately broad in scope”, and while Donaldson was convicted of offences against children, the probe will receive information concerning alleged sexual misconduct, harassment, coercive or controlling behaviour, bullying, misogyny, intimidation, exploitation, abuse of status or authority, retaliation, and other boundary violations involving adults.

Donaldson, 63, was convicted at Newry Crown Court earlier this year of 18 sex offences, including one count of rape, relating to the abuse of two women when they were children. The offences were committed between 1985 and 2008.

Where the law requires disclosure, the Independent Safeguarding Professional will refer information directly to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, without recourse to the Ulster Unionist Party.

The review will examine, among other matters, any concerns reported to the party during the 1982 to 2003 period, the response those concerns received, the extent to which Donaldson’s status and power affected that response, and what the party can learn to strengthen its safeguarding practice, standards and culture. Concerns raised about behaviour post-2003 will, with consent, be shared with the relevant review or body.

The UUP said the review has been shaped by consultation with a number of victims’ groups, whose expertise in supporting survivors of abuse has informed the process at every stage. This has included Men’s Advisory Project, Nexus NI, NI Survivor Council (NISC), Victim Support NI and Women’s Aid.

At the conclusion of the Review, the Independent Safeguarding Professional will author a report setting out her findings and recommendations. The Ulster Unionist Party said they have committed to publishing the report as far as is legally possible.

Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA said: “The conviction of Jeffrey Donaldson exposed one of the most serious breaches of trust in public life in Northern Ireland. My first thoughts, today as ever, are with the two women whose courage brought his crimes into the light.

“Jeffrey Donaldson was a member of the Ulster Unionist Party for 21 years, from 1982 to 2003. That fact carries an obligation. We owe it to the victims, and we owe it to the public, to establish honestly and independently whether there is anything the party should have known, should have acted upon or should have done differently during those years.

“That is what this Review is for. It is independent. It is led by one of the most experienced safeguarding professionals in Northern Ireland. It is confidential for anyone who comes forward, and it has a direct referral pathway to the police where the law requires. Whatever it finds, this party will act upon its findings.

“I want to say clearly to anyone with information, or with an experience they have carried, sometimes for many years: please come forward. Your voice will be heard, and you will be given all the support necessary.

“This review was designed in consultation with victims’ groups, whose expertise and honesty have shaped it. I am grateful to them, and to those they represent, for the work they have done alongside us to ensure this process can command confidence.

“The Ulster Unionist Party called on the UK Government for a full independent public inquiry into what was known about Jeffrey Donaldson throughout his public career. That inquiry has been declined.

“In its absence, we are determined to ensure that anyone affected by this man during his years in the Ulster Unionist Party has the opportunity to be heard, to have their experience properly examined and to help ensure the full truth is told. That is what this Review is for.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Andy Burnham is facing increasing pressure to clarify his plans for increasing defence spending from the head of Nato and Labour’s union paymasters.  

Mark Rutte, the former Dutch premier is expected to use a speech in Oxford tonight to publicly hold his feet to the fire over increasing spending on the UK’s depleted military.

At the Ditchley Foundation’s annual lecture in Oxfordshire, the Nato chief will praise the UK, describing it as ‘serious about security’.

But in what could be seen as a pointed remark about the need to go further, he will add: ‘The UK is already investing more in defence. And I welcome the new Prime Minister’s assurance that his government will meet its Nato commitments.’   

The Government faces a challenge in how to hike defence spending to 5 per cent over the next decade, as it grapples with rising borrowing costs caused by the US-Iran war, and multiple domestic pressures on the public finances. 

UK defence spending is expected to rise to around 2.7 per cent of GDP by 2027, but Mr Burnham has raised alarms that it will not meet an interim target of 3 per cent by 2030.

Last week he sparked uproar by refusing to cut the UK welfare bill to fund a boost to defence spending, saying: ‘National security cannot come at the expense of social security.’

But the PM is also facing pressure from Labour’s union paymasters to pour money into defence to create jobs.

Unite boss Sharon Graham said that the UK had been ‘running our hand across our mouth in defence for ages’ and said it should form part of a ‘proper plan for the reindustrialisation of Britain’. 

UK defence spending is expected to rise to around 2.7 per cent of GDP by 2027, but Mr Burnham has skirted around a further target of 3 per cent by 2030

Advertisement

She told Politico: ‘I’m in conversations with members and employers in defense, and these people are making decisions now about whether they stay in Britain.’ 

However unions are divided, with the University and College Union using the TUC conference to pass a motion demanding the cash should be used to fight climate chance and renationalise utilities instead.

Pushing the body to back its ‘wages not weapons’ campaign, UCU general secretary Jo Grady lashed out at the US and Israel for its ‘war of aggression against the people of Iran’.

‘Our lives don’t feel more secure because BAE systems is getting another multi-billion-pound contract. A global arms race does not make us feel safer,’ she told the conference.

‘There is a choice, because every pound spent on bombs doesn’t get homeless people off the streets, it doesn’t build a new school, it doesn’t feed a hungry child, it doesn’t help the desperate NHS, the crumbling transport infrastructure or the crucial need for a programme of insourcing and renationalisation.’

Nato allies have agreed to hike their defence spending to 5 per cent of economic output by 2035, amid burgeoning threats from Russia and China, and demands from Donald Trump’s America that European member states invest more in their own security. 

Unite boss Sharon Graham said that the UK had been ‘running our hand across our mouth in defence for ages’ and said it should form part of a ‘plan for the reindustrialisation of Britain’.

However the University and College Union’s Jo Grady used the TUC conference to say that the cash should be used to fight climate chance and improve schools and housing instead

Advertisement

Chancellor John Healey quit as defence secretary in June over Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to commit to the 3 per cent target, saying it was the minimum needed to keep Britain safe.

Mr Rutte will use his speech to say that the UK ‘is leading, along with Nato allies, the push back against Russia’s dangerous and reckless campaign against us’.

He will add: ‘Collectively we will continue to strengthen our ability to deter and defend all allies, against any threat. Nato will not be intimidated by Russia’s campaign of hostile actions. Russia wants to stop us helping Ukraine – but their actions will only lead us to do more for Ukraine. Russia’s actions are a sign of weakness, and a symptom of Putin’s failure in Ukraine.’

Elsewhere in his speech, Mr Rutte will address the changing nature of the military alliance.

Mr Rutte will say: ‘To stay transatlantic, Nato is becoming more European. A Nato with Europe, and Canada, spending more, producing more, and doing more for their security. This is the idea of Nato 3.0.

‘Building for the future. A stronger Europe, in a stronger Nato.’

The father of a missing three-year-old boy has pleaded with the public to keep searching as he ‘cannot go another night knowing he’s out there alone’.

Local officials said at 5am that there had been no sightings of three–year–old Noah Woods, who is non-verbal and partially deaf, after he vanished from a playground in Suffolk yesterday.

Noah is believed to have run off from his grandfather out of the playground in the village of Brantham, disappearing down an alleyway at 3pm on Tuesday.

Residents have been urged to check their gardens, sheds and outbuildings, and those with CCTV or doorbell cameras have been asked to review the footage. 

This morning, police cordoned off a footpath beside the playground, while a helicopter hovered overhead and circled around the area. 

Hundreds of volunteers have also converged on the tiny village as the search enters its second day.

Posting to Facebook, Noah’s father Rhys Woods said the emergency services believe that his young son is no longer in the immediate areas around the playground where he disappeared.

He asked the public to ‘please don’t give up on him’ and to continue searching, telling them ‘he is out there somewhere’.

Noah, who is mildly autistic and unlikely to respond to his name being called, was described as white with curly ginger hair. He was wearing a t–shirt with cartoon character Bluey on it, shorts and white trainers when he went missing.

The alleyway he disappeared down leads to a new–build housing estate, a local pond and a railway line.  

‘We still have nothing, all the emergency services and all of you have shown how strong this community is, with people coming from far and wide also,’ Mr Woods wrote.

Members of the public turned out to help police as the search continues for Noah throughout the village of Brantham

Noah vanished after becoming separated from a relative in Merriam Close, Brantham, on Tuesday afternoon

Emergency services are searching the Brantham area in a bid to locate him, while residents have been urged to check their gardens, sheds and outbuildings

This morning, police cordoned off a footpath beside the playground, while a helicopter hovered overhead and circled around the area

Advertisement

‘The emergency services are very confident that the high risk areas (Decoy pond, railway lines) are all clear.

‘This means knowing our boy, he has gone even further, could I ask that all of you brilliant people out there today expand further if you are able to?

‘I cannot go another night knowing he’s out there alone, please don’t give up on him guys. He is out there somewhere and I appreciate every single one of you.’

Noah’s great uncle, Tony Malcolm, who was part of the search team, described him as ‘a lovely little kid’.

Volunteer searchers were briefed at the village hall this morning by parish clerk, Sarah Keys, who told them: ‘Please remember we are searching for a frightened three-year-old boy.’

Ms Keys said around 500 people had stayed up all night to carry on searching for Noah. 

The village hall stayed open during the night, and the council also printed out hundreds of maps for volunteers to use in their searches.

Ms Keys said: ‘There were about 1,000 people out at one point. I think local people are just feeling devastated. Everyone just wants to pull together and help.’

Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk Tim Passmore urged those joining the ongoing searches not to go out alone and to get direction from those organising the response.

Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk, he said his ‘thoughts and prayers’ are with friends and family of Noah Woods.

He said: ‘As time goes by I really hope we can get some good news. I can’t think of anything worse than a poor little three-year-old lad going missing and not being found.’

Dozens of locals gathered at the village hall from 8.30am in the hope of getting a police briefing about where to search, but many decided to head off on their own before a senior officer arrived to talk to them.

Ms Keys told the crowd: ‘I know your feet are itching to go out and look for that little boy. We just want to find him.’

Around 200 locals who had arrived at the hall by around 9.30am were split into two groups with fitter people being allocated to search muddy tracks and fields while others were told to concentrate on the paved areas of the village.

Members of a search and rescue team continue their search near Merriam Close for Noah

Environment Agency officers join police officers as they continue their search for Noah

Noah’s father Rhys Woods (pictured) asked the public to ‘please don’t give up on him’ and to continue searching, telling them ‘he is out there somewhere’.

Advertisement

Yesterday, a Coastguard helicopter was seen circling the village, which is near the estuary of the River Stour.

And passengers on trains between Manningtree and Ipswich were told that their services would be run at a reduced speed because of the searches. 

Volunteers from Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue used a boat to search Decoy Pond, the local beauty spot Noah was seen running towards.

Police dog units joined the search overnight, and thermal imaging cameras were deployed.

Just before midnight, volunteers who joined the hunt were told to go home for the night and rest, but many remained on the streets. 

In a Facebook post just after 5am on Wednesday, Brantham Parish Council said there had been no confirmed sightings of Noah.

‘The search for Noah continues this morning,’ the post said.

‘If you are able to help with the search today, please keep safe and take care of yourselves. 

‘Search in pairs where possible, wear high-vis clothing and take extra care around roads, water, woodland and other potentially dangerous areas. Please take a fully charged mobile phone with you.

‘Please also check your own property thoroughly, including gardens, sheds, garages, outbuildings, vehicles and under or behind furniture.

‘If the police ask you to move away from an area, please follow their instructions. This may be to allow specialist search activity to take place.’

Last night, Brantham Parish Council wrote on its Facebook page: ‘We have been completely overwhelmed by the support received from the Brantham community and from visitors from far and wide and our thanks go to the emergency services and all the volunteers who have joined the search so far.

‘The Village Hall will be open all night with toilet facilities and drinks if you need it. 

‘The emergency services will be continuing their search throughout the night.’

The search continues in darkness for three–year–old Noah, who disappeared in Brantham

Volunteers who joined the hunt have now been told to go home for the night and rest

Advertisement

One police officer manning the cordon last night urged the public to allow officers to get on with the job themselves. 

He told the Harwich and Manningtree Standard: ‘We have been given information and we want to search this bit with our teams now that we have got the teams here.

‘You’ve got dog units looking for any sort of tracks, and then we’ve got thermal imaging going throughout the wooded area.

‘At this time of night with this light, it’s harder for members of the public – we want to make sure we can do that with all of our equipment we’ve got. 

‘The more people we have got in there [in the woodland] the harder it is going to be for us, especially with scents – if there is a scent or a track or anything like that, we don’t want that to be changed in any way. 

‘If there are people in there, the thermal imaging is going to pick up them as opposed to obviously all of our goal to find the little man.’

Suffolk Police said anyone with information about Noah’s whereabouts should contact them. 

They said: ‘Police are appealing for help to locate a missing three–year–old boy in Brantham.

‘Noah was last seen at approximately 3pm [on] Tuesday 15 September, when he became separated from a relative after visiting the playground in Merriam Close.

‘Noah is reported to have run off down the alleyway beside the playground towards the new build housing estate.

‘Noah is described as white, with curly ginger hair. He is wearing a white Bluey t–shirt, shorts and white trainers.’

A spokesman for HM Coastguard said: ‘We are assisting Suffolk Constabulary with an incident at Brantham by sending an HM Coastguard helicopter and Coastguard Rescue Teams from Felixstowe and Holbrook.’ 

A former teacher and hotel manager is on trial accused of raping three women over a 20-year period. Daniel Gravell is alleged to have indecently assaulted and raped a woman in 2001, to have raped a second woman in 2005, and to have raped a third woman in 2021.

The 44-year-old defendant denies the allegations and is on trial at Swansea Crown Court.

It is the prosecution case that the first alleged rape happened at Gravell’s home in Johnston near Carmarthen in 2001 after the defendant and the woman met on a night out. The court was told that the pair initially engaged in consensual kissing but when the woman told Gravell she was on her period he “yanked out” her tampon, pinned her down, and raped her.

The second alleged rape is said to have happened in 2005. Jurors were told that Gravell took the complainant to a “secluded spot” behind Carmarthen Athletic rugby club and attacked her.

The third allegation of rape involves a woman who Gravell met on social media in 2021. It is the prosecution case that defendant drove the woman to the Baltic Hotel in Carmarthenshire which Gravell was managing at the time but which he told the woman he owned. The court was told that after showing her around the hotel, the defendant took the woman to one of the rooms, locked the door, and raped her.

It is Gravell’s case that the 2001 incident “simply never happened” while the 2005 and 2021 incidents were consensual sexual encounters.

On Tuesday the jury heard evidence from the alleged victim of the 2001 incident. She told the court how she met the defendant in Carmarthen town centre before going back to his home in nearby Johnstown.

The complainant said Gravell and her were kissing consensually on his bed when she told him she was on her period. Jurors heard that at that point “things changed” and Gravell got on top of her before “ripping out” her tampon and raping her.

The woman told the jury that the defendant gave her a sexually transmitted disease, and that on a subsequent occasion when she saw him out in Carmarthen she decided to confront him about it. she told the jury Gravell “laughed in my face” before she had the chance to get the words out and that he “said something like ‘I gave you a little present’”.

Daniel Gravell, of Porth Y Plas, Johnstown, Carmarthen, denies three counts of rape and one count of indecent assault, and the trial – before Judge Paul Thomas KC – is expected to last two weeks.

You can follow today’s evidence in our live blog below:

Cllr Chadwick, who represented Westhoughton, died this morning, leaving his fellow councillors “shocked and saddened”.

Leading the tributes to the passionate champion of Bolton and dedicated advocate for his ward was Bolton Council leader Cllr Akhtar Zaman.

He said: “Everyone at Bolton Council is deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of David Chadwick, Deputy Mayor of Bolton.

“A Bolton lad through-and-through, David dedicated his life to serving the community he was so proud to call home.

“He served as a Westhoughton Town Councillor, as a ward councillor for Westhoughton South, as Cabinet Member for Transport, as Chair of the Licensing Committee, as a school governor and in countless other roles.

“One of his proudest moments was his inauguration as Mayor of Bolton for 2025/26, a role he performed with typical dedication, warmth, and good humour.

“Our thoughts are with his wife Valerie, his children Matthew and Victoria, and his grandchildren.

“The town hall flag will be flying at half-mast as a mark of respect.”

A mother who struggled to fit on the rides at Disneyland Paris due to her size has returned to the theme park two years later after losing nearly six stone.

Poppie Chapman, 33, from Suffolk, said she felt mortified when she had trouble fastening safety bars on some rides during what should have been a dream family getaway in 2024.

The mother-of-two, who weighed 14st 1Ib at the time, was left miserable at what is often described as ‘the happiest place on earth’ as she felt unfit and her body ached while walking around the 140-acre site.

When she returned to the UK, Poppie decided to join Slimming World in a desperate bid to lose weight. Now, two years on, she has lost a remarkable 5st 9Ibs through making healthier lifestyle choices.

Poppie said: ‘I’d dreamed about taking my kids to Disneyland Paris, so when my eight-year-old daughter Aurora’s dance school organised a trip there, I jumped at the chance.

‘I soon realised that my weight was holding me back – not just confidence wise, but physically too.

‘I found myself breathing in to get some of the safety bars to fit – and then spent the duration of the ride with them digging into my stomach.

‘I just felt so sad – it was the trip of a lifetime but instead of making happy memories with my daughter, all I could think about was how low I felt.’

Poppie Chapman, 33, said she felt mortified when she struggled to fasten safety bars on some rides during what should have been a dream family getaway in 2024. Now, she has returned to the same Disneyland resort to finally enjoy the dream holiday she wanted 

Poppie has lost a remarkable 5st 9Ibs through making healthier lifestyle choice and described comparing the images of her side-by-side was ‘surreal’

Advertisement

Poppie explained that while pregnant with her now five-year-old son Litt she suffered from gestational diabetes which saw her forced to use crutches to walk.

‘I remember wishing I could be a fun and active mum who set a good example to her kids – but I just felt so far away from that person,’ she said.

Now, Poppie, who weighs 8st 4Ibs, has returned to the same Disneyland resort to finally enjoy the dream holiday she wanted as well as all the rides on offer.

‘This year, when the information for the dance trip came around, I was over the moon at the thought of going back,’ she said. 

‘Instead of worrying about my health or what I looked like, I was planning cute matching outfits with my daughter and felt genuinely excited about making new memories to replace the painful ones I experienced in 2024.

‘We raced around the park going on as many rides as possible, all the safety bars closed easily, and I was racking up 20k steps a day without even thinking about it.

‘It was such a change to how I felt two years ago. Instead of feeling low and self-conscious I was finally able to enjoy the true magic of Disney.’

Poppie added that comparing the images of her side-by-side was ‘surreal’ and that she could never have imagined she would have felt this ‘happy or confident’ after losing the weight.

The mother-of-two, who weighed 14st 1Ib at the time, was left miserable at what is often described as ‘the happiest place on earth’

Poppie said that losing the weight finally enabled her to ‘enjoy the true magic of Disney’. She added: ‘Instead of worrying about my health or what I looked like, I was planning cute matching outfits with my daughter and felt genuinely excited’

Poppie pictured before her weight loss. ‘I remember wishing I could be a fun and active mum who set a good example to her kids – but I just felt so far away from that person,’ she said

Poppie, of Suffolk, said: ‘I’d dreamed about taking my kids to Disneyland Paris, so when my eight-year-old daughter Aurora’s dance school organised a trip there, I jumped at the chance’. Pictured: Poppie and Aurora at Disneyland after Poppie’s weight loss

Advertisement

She explained that while she was fearful of ‘judgement’, joining Slimming World provided her with a ‘group of people  who wrapped around me like a safety net’.

‘The support from the consultant and the rest of the group is everything,’ she said. 

‘You’re surrounded by people who get it, people who cheer for you, cry with you and lift you up when you can’t lift yourself.

‘That support kept me going on the days I wanted to give up.’

And while Poppie was fearful of the changes in her food, the reality has been quite the opposite – as she now enjoys ‘real food’ and ‘proper family meals’ that allow her to stay on target. 

‘I don’t feel like I’m missing out. My fajita bowl is a family favourite – even the kids ask for it,’ she said. 

‘We cook from scratch, and all sit down together. Life feels easier because I’m more prepared and not wondering what we will have for dinner at the last minute.’