IS THAT YOUR MUM OR YOUR SISTER?

Louise Muirhead, 51, was desperate to lose weight and get fit for the sake of her children

- MOIRA HOLDEN, MATT BARBOUR

Flopping down into my chair, I could hear my tummy rumbling. It was summer 2010 and I was exhausted and hungry, yet I didn’t have the energy to heave myself up and into the kitchen to make dinner. So I slung off my shoes, sank back and jabbed at my phone to order a Chinese takeaway – egg fried rice, chow mein, prawn toast, chicken in sweet-and-sour sauce, and I’d treat myself to a few prawn crackers too. Swiping it out of the hands of the delivery driver seconds after he’d rung the doorbell, I drooled over the steaming foil packages.

Working full-time as a receptionist for the local council in south London and being a single mum to my children, Shamara, then 18, and Tyreece, nine, took up all my time. ‘I’m so tired,’ I sighed on the phone to my mum Ailen, then 68, most days. ‘Haven’t got the energy to cook.’ I decided I had no time for exercise either.

Most nights I’d reach for takeaways, McDonald’s, fish and chips, Doritos and Pringles, all washed down by Coke. It was an easy option when I was rushed off my feet. The kids loved it too!

I’d always been a chubby child and teenager, enjoying the plentiful portions from my traditional Caribbean upbringing. And now I knew I was piling on the pounds even more. In fact, at 5ft 7in, I now weighed more than 22st.