TRANSFORMATION REAL LIFE
Claire Ball, 37, from Ebbw Vale in Wales, risked it all to get her life back on track…
Flipping open the takeaway box, I flopped onto the sofa and hit play on the TV remote.
The familiar intro of Desperate Housewives began – my Saturday night classic.
But the only thing Iwas desperate for was abite of my 16-inch Domino’s pizza.
This smells delicious, I thought –before devouring the entire pizza all in one go.
But that wasn’t all –I’d ordered atub of Ben &Jerry’s Phish Food for dessert.
And washing my meal down with apint of Pepsi Max Cherry, too, I still didn’t feel satisfied either.
Luckily, my daughters Jessica, now 12, and Georgia, now nine, weren’t there to witness my feast.
Inever let them eat like me! After splitting up with their dad in May 2017, Iwas struggling to adapt to life as a single mum.
The weekends were especially hard when the girls were at their dad’s.
Having moved into anew house in the next town over after the split, I didn’t know anyone in the area.
I only texted my mum Judy, now 64, when Iwanted to chat.
Ispent my weekends alone, bingeing on boxsets and food. Food was my only friend.
Icooked the girls healthy dinners like spaghetti Bolognese, but Isnacked on Cheetos instead.
Then I’d pop down to the local fish and chip shop.
I’d go three times aweek for greasy cod piled high with salt and vinegar doused chips.
‘Back for your regular, Claire?’ the owner said. He knew me by name. After eating this way for two years, Iwas in arut.
By 2019, Iweighed 21st and wore size 24 clothes.
Logging onto Tinder, Inever got many matches and my chats with men fizzled out.
In my baggy T-shirts and stretchy leggings, I felt even less like a woman by the day.
I’d never been slim –when Imet my ex at 18, I weighed 11st. And before my break-up, I’d piled on 3st in relationship weight.
I’d tried Slimming World before but always failed, putting on even more weight. Trying another diet would be hopeless.
Ihave to do something. Especially when I noticed everyday tasks getting harder.
Walking the kids to school, I was completely out of breath.
‘I need to stop girls,’ I said, stopping on the pavement.
‘Are you OK Mummy?’ they asked me.
At a huge 21st, I felt less like a woman every day
My chest was heaving and my cheeks were burning. It was only a 10-minute walk from the house.
Only, as I started walking again, Imissed my footing –and fell over in an enormous, blubbering lump.
Is anyone looking at me? I thought, paranoid.
Iburned with humiliation, keeping my head down for the rest of the walk.
At the school gates, Ipopped in my AirPods so I didn��
