A WEIGHT-LOSS instructor-turned baker is having her cake – but not eating it.
Saffron Medway was inspired to help others slim down after joining a weight-loss programme and dropping from a dress size 20 to a ten.
She signed up to the programme after moving to Warwick for a full time job which lead to a lifestyle of unhealthy eating and takeaways.
And following her success, she gave up her job to help others reach their weight goals.
The 47-year-old explained: “After a couple of years I decided to train to become a leader because I felt inspired by the journey I had been on and wanted to be able to give somebody else the same feeling and same experience I had.”
But a demanding work schedule began to take its toll on the busy mum-of-four and she turned to cake decorating as an escape – despite admitting to not being a fan of the sweet treats.
She added: “The workload just got bigger and bigger and it had got to the point where I was literally working 24-hours a day. I was running the meetings during the day, then having the children and doing all the domestic stuff and then it was off to another meeting in the evening and then coming home at around 9pm to do my paperwork and then starting on my cakes. I would be working through to about 6.30am and wasn’t sleeping at all.
“I have always liked to bake and cook but I would find myself up in the middle of the night with insomnia trying to find something to do that was quiet – and there’s only so many books you can read – I just wanted to do something constructive. I don’t consider myself artistic funnily enough and it wouldn’t have occurred to me to pick up a pencil or a paintbrush or something, but I did enjoy baking and got hold of some books and magazines and watched YouTube videos and literally started teaching myself cake decorating.”
Finally after nine years as a weight-loss instructor, her husband encouraged Saffron to focus instead on setting up a cake business – Caking and Baking which she now runs from a shop in Warwick.
And the irony of the slimming instructor turned baker’s tale is not lost on Saffron who even admitted to some of her best customers being former weight-loss clients.
She said: “It was hilarious. It was a never-ending business circle because I would be supplying cake and helping them lose weight and then supplying them with cake again and helping them lose weight again! I would often turn up to my meeting with a celebration cake for one of my members because they’d ordered one.
“But it also helped because I developed a lot of low fat cake baking with fresh fruit or Greek yoghurt.
“You can still have cake and lose weight. Weight loss and healthy weight maintenance is about having everything you want, but just in moderation. There is no reason why if you’re trying to lose weight that you can’t eat cake. You just have to make allowances elsewhere.”
