Carolyn Kendall, 50, a police officer from Horsham, used to hide away from the public to avoid nasty ‘fat’ comments. Here she reveals how losing 14st* with LighterLife gave her confidence to step back on the streets and regain her respect as an officer…
I needed a specially made uniform
“I’ve been in the police force since my 20s. I love my job and can’t imagine doing anything else. However, as I gradually put on weight over the years, my size started to affect me professionally. Eventually, I had to have my uniform specially made because I couldn’t fit into the sizes the force offered. It was embarrassing. It was a combination of factors that led me to realise I had to do something drastic about my weight, and being a morbidly obese policewoman was one of them.”
I received nasty abuse online
“I featured briefly on an ITV rock choir documentary, and I must have been on screen for only 15 seconds. But before we knew it, there were nasty comments on Twitter about my size and incompetence as a policewoman. It really upset me. To them, because I was fat, I was useless! After that, I stuck to backroom jobs to keep out of the public eye. I lost all my confidence and my size held me back from applying for frontline roles in the police.”
I’d eat far too much
“My job is very stressful and I’d use food to deal with it. Every day I’d skip breakfast and turn up to work starving. I’d pop to the local shop to buy a six-pack of crumpets and eat the lot smothered with full-fat butter. I’d also pick up two bags of doughnuts for the office and end up eating most of them myself. The final straw was when my husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes – he was also obese. My parents died in their 50s of heart disease and stomach cancer – both closely linked to obesity. The warning signs were all there! So we did some research and discovered LighterLife.”
I’m no longer the jolly, fat police officer
“My husband and I joined LighterLife together, and within six months we were totally different people. The LighterLife group sessions changed my whole outlook on emotional eating. Nobody force-fed me or made me eat the quantity I did – I’m an intelligent woman, I knew what would happen, I just chose to ignore it. I lost 14st on LighterLife Total and my confidence and faith in myself were regained. I’m no longer the jolly, fat police officer who everyone has a laugh with – I’m respected professionally. I also applied for a custody sergeant role and got the position. I’d never have applied when I was bigger due to the abuse I’d get from suspects about my size. I now feel confident in the public eye and take pride in wearing my normal-sized police uniform. The only regret I have is that I wish I’d done LighterLife years ago. It’s changed my life and my husband’s, whose diabetes has gone since he lost the weight. We are much happier and enjoying our new lives.”
*Each of our client’s results and stories are unique to them and their experience of LighterLife. Your own results will be personal to you and may vary.
Join LighterLife now
