Postponing her wedding for a second time, Natalie Cowie, 42, knew she had to do something drastic about her weight
The Christmas tree was still twinkling in the living room and there were empty tins of Quality Street stacked up for recycling. It was New Year’s Day 2022 but as I dished up lunch for my fiancé, Brian, then 52, and my daughter, Yvie, 11, there wasn’t a plate for me.
‘I’m going on a diet,’ I explained to them.
‘OK, Mum,’ Yvie smiled, as I sipped a meal-replacement drink.
After a Christmas spent indulging on chocolate, crisps, nuts, Christmas dinner and all the trimmings, countless puddings and just about anything I fancied, I knew I had to do something drastic to transform my life.
TROUBLE WALKING
At 5ft 3in and weighing 17st 7lb and a size 24 , I was a virtual recluse and my mobility was so bad that I needed a rollator – like a Zimmer frame on wheels – to get around. I felt tired all the time and manoeuvring myself out of bed was so difficult that Brian had practically become my carer. I knew it was no life for a 40-year-old and I felt terrible about the impact on my family. The sad thing was, I hadn’t always been this big.
Growing up, I was an avid gymnast and I had even competed for my home county of Essex. Back then, I could eat and drink what I wanted without worrying about my weight.
I became a single mum aged 31 and four years later I got together with Brian, then 46, who I’d known for years.
Brian was a brilliant partner to me and dad to Yvie, but just nine months later I started experiencing MS-like symptoms such as spasms, numbness and pins and needles.
I googled it endlessly and it seemed to be multiple sclerosis, and when I saw consultant neurologists at Southend University Hospital they agreed.
Frustratingly, though, no tests could confirm the diagnosis and I was told there’s no cure for MS - I’d just have to learn to live with it. So, for the years that followed I continued struggling with the symptoms, which impacted me physically and mentally.
Soon I couldn’t control my hands because of the pins and needles and loss of feeling, I would regularly burn myself when cooking, and had to stop all exercise – something I’d always loved. That’s when the weight started to pile on.
Not that I really noticed to begin with, though. Then, in December 2018, Brian and I went on a rare Christmas-shopping trip to London and he
