All I Want For Christmas Is… A New Body!

Nicola Kiggin, 43, had gone for a fun night out with her friends but it changed everything...

- Anna Verdon and Ann Cusack

As the alarm whirred, I looked at the clock. ‘It’s 6.30am,’ I groaned to my husband Billy, as I pulled the pillow over my head. ‘We can’t get up this early on Christmas morning.’ But Billy was full of excitement. ‘You’re like a little kid,’ I grumbled as he kept nudging me.

It was December 2014 and my son Luke, then 12, was staying over at his dad’s house and Billy’s children Bethany, 19, and Jack, 17, had long grown out of running downstairs at the crack of dawn to open presents. And me? Well, at a size 22 and lacking energy, I loved my sleep.In fact, Billy had to resort to setting off the smoke alarm before I relented and heaved myself from beneath the duvet.

‘OK,’ I said. ‘I’m up.’ And it was then I remembered what I’d promised myself just a week earlier, that this Christmas would be my last hurrah before starting my diet in the new year. ‘I’m really going to enjoy myself,’ I told Billy. ‘Because 2015 will be the start of a new me.’ He’d heard it all before, but Billy didn’t know how hard it could be to cut out your favourite food and stick to a diet.

The big blowout

Moments later, Bethany and Jack walked in bleary-eyed. ‘Happy Christmas,’ they said reaching over for a hug. We sat on the end of the bed chatting before, finally, an hour later we went downstairs to start our celebrations.

Christmas wouldn’t have been Christmas without a drink, so at 9am, I poured myself a glass of beer. Then I emptied a huge bag of crisps and a bag of peanuts and cashews into a bowl and took them to the lounge.