Lindsay was living in denial for far too long. Now over 13st lighter, she’s been maintaining her size 10 frame since December 2018 and is feeling on top of the world.
- Weight lost: 13st 3lb*
- Weight loss plan: Total
- Followed by Management
“I have three older siblings, and as a child I would always want exactly same amount of food as them; life was a competition and if they had an extra roast potato, I wanted one, too. When we were growing up, we didn’t have many rules around food, other than you must finish everything on your plate. Being able to provide food was my parents way of showing love and affection. And despite food being plentiful, I found myself hiding food and secret binging from a young age.
As an adult, I spent years trying diet after diet, losing some weight but inevitably putting it back on, and more. Losing weight wasn’t the hard part; I knew how to do that. It was the psychological side of my weight gain that I never could crack. I didn’t understand my ‘why’ or change my behaviour so enviably the weight returned, taking more of my self esteem away with each pound I gained.
My turning point
In 2016, my father passed away and my emotional eating spiralled. In 2017 I was effectively demoted through a restructure at work. And then in 2018 I was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnoea and borderline hyperventilation. I was so ashamed that I had done that to myself. The sleep clinic advised me to have a gastric band to lose the weight quickly, but I was adamant I would not go down the surgery route and I wouldn’t let myself live the rest of my life having to wear an oxygen mask at night.
After my diagnosis, I made the firm decision to lose weight. I had two friends at work who’d had great results with LighterLife, and the cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) group sessions really appealed to me – this wasn’t anything I’d tried before. In February 2018 I stepped on the scales at my local LighterLife centre in Dartford and was shocked to see how much weight I’d put on; I was 25st 1lb. I had been living in complete denial. I was told that on the LighterLife Total plan I’d lose roughly a stone a month, so I knew I’d be committing the remainder of the year to changing my life, and I was ready.
Group support made all the difference
I absolutely relished the weekly CBT group sessions run by my LighterLife Counsellor, Sharon. Not only was it great to share the journey with people who understand, it made me hold myself accountable to my behaviour, and I also learnt things about myself that extend beyond my relationship with food into all parts of my life. I was able to recognise the emotional triggers that caused me to overeat and understand how my perfectionist ways were constantly setting me up for failure.
Now, over 13st lighter, I feel amazing. It’s so great to be fit and healthy again with a balanced approached to eating. Last year was all about losing weight, so 2019 for me is all about focusing on maintaining my weight, making new habits and living life in balance. It’s remarkable to think that I only needed to wear an oxygen mask for 10 months and now I have no problems sleeping. If I’d stayed at the weight I was my sleep apnoea would have been a problem for life and that’s one of the main reasons I’m so determined to stay fit and healthy.
I’m excited to be dating again, enjoying exercise, playing actively with my nine nieces and nephews and performing back on stage. I am literally half the woman, living twice the life and you’ll now find me living without my weight holding me back. I’ve even started windsurfing, who’d have thought it!” ”
