It was all or NOTHING

Hurtling towards a health crisis, Elaine Watson took drastic action

- FRANCES LEATE

BEFORE 25st

It’s incredible the lengths I used to go to in order to pretend that everything was OK. How I’d have to plan each and every detail of my life in advance to avoid embarrassment. Calling the airline to pre-order a seatbelt extension before I went on holiday, avoiding parking spaces where I didn’t have enough room to get out of the car, refusing to go on fairground rides in case I got stuck, and avoiding sitting on bar stools, worried I’d break them. But, overweight since childhood, my whole life had been dictated by one thing. My size.

Back in late 2018, in my mid-40s, my doctor warned me my blood-sugar levels were dangerously high and I needed to lose weight. ‘You’re already pre-diabetic,’ he told me.

The thought of being diagnosed with diabetes, and the daily injections and medication I’d need, had terrified me. I felt so ashamed, knowing my eating habits had put my health, and potentially my life, at risk.

I’d not been in denial – far from it. For years, I’d been struggling to get around and my feet ached constantly. I could barely walk five minutes from my car to the office without getting breathless.

At 46, I was 25st, dress size 28-30, and at 5ft 6in, it meant my BMI was alarmingly high. A healthy BMI is anything below 25, yet I was teetering over 56, considered morbidly obese. I was well aware of the danger.