THE NEW ME!

Monique Munro, 26, knew she had to slim down for the sake of her health

- MICHELLE RAWLINS.

Snuggled up on the sofa watching TV with my family, I felt so content. I’d just got home from university for the Christmas holidays and was looking forward to a relaxing break. As we caught up on each other’s news, Mum said, ‘So what have you been spending your wages and loan on?’ Suddenly, my blissful mood was soured as my thoughts turned to the fact that I’d gone up three dress sizes since starting my course, and it was probably obvious that I was spending most of my money on takeaways. ‘I’ve been buying my shopping from the supermarket,’ I mumbled defensively. I could see the worry on my parents’ faces as Mum said, ‘Well, as long as you’re eating balanced meals…’

I knew full well why Mum and Dad were worried about my increasing weight – a few months before, at the age of 19, I’d been diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension. It was a rare condition that caused spinal fluid to build up in my brain, putting pressure on my optic nerve. It was just as scary as it sounded: all of a sudden my vision would blur and my head would pound. After being sent to a neurologist and referred for an MRI, I’d been talked through the treatment by the specialist – every few months I’d have to have a needle inserted into my spine to reduce the pressure. At the time, the doctor had told me, ‘It would also help if you could lose some weight. It could make a real difference to your symptoms.’ But without any guidance, I just didn’t know where to start.