real life
After years of yo-yo dieting, Ashleigh Wakenshaw, 34, was determined to lose the pounds for good…
Standing on my landing, clad in leggings and a sports bra, I faced my boyfriend Ollie and tried not to scowl. “Hurry up!” I hissed at him, feeling exposed. “OK, now turn to the left, let’s get a photo side-on,” he instructed, snapping away with his phone. It was 2021 and I was starting yet another fitness plan – the latest in a long line of failed attempts to lose weight.
I’d signed up with a new personal trainer, and as usual they had asked me to take so-called ‘before’ photos to chart my progress. But as usual I didn’t make any progress. Within a few weeks I’d let my gym subscription lapse and had Dominos back on speed dial. I’d begun piling on weight in my mid- 20s, after starting an office job and getting my first f lat in Bath city centre. I only lived a 10-minute walk away from work, and spent all day snacking.
I often started out with good intentions. I’d make a healthy packed lunch, but when Sandwich Sue – as we called the office sandwich delivery lady – arrived with her trolley, my resolve crumbled. I’d treat myself to one of her pizza rolls for breakfast, then a cheese sarnie for elevenses. By the time it reached lunchtime I was onto my third meal of the day. If
I hadn’t brought I packed lunch I’d nip to a nearby garage for a £5 meal deal, as well as grabbing extra bars of chocolate, crisps and energy drinks to see me through the afternoon. Evenings were often spent with colleagues enjoying a pint after work, so by the time I rolled home I was too tired cook.
Instead, I opened a family-size bag of onion ring crisps and dipped them in mayonnaise, or ordered a Domino’s pizza.
By the time Ollie joined the firm in 2016, at 5ft 7in I was a size 18. Ollie was tall, muscled from the gym, and good looking, with a lovely smile. I always felt he was way out of my league romantically, but after doing a training course together we became firm friends. “What on Earth are they?” Ollie asked one day, catching a glimpse of a row of jars in my desk drawer. “It’s my new diet,” I blushed. I was a committed yo-yo dieter, trying all sorts of wacky weight-loss plans. “But that’s baby food!” he replied. “You’re not seriously going to eat that?” “It’s the baby food diet!” I told him defensively. Of course, like all my other diets, it failed.
BEFORE
21st 4.5lbs Size 22-24
