My mummy transformation

Sabrina Ketencimen, 35, blamed her medication for her weight gain, until she realised she had to stop making excuses

- MICHELLE RAWLINS

Walking into the community hall, I wasn’t holding out much hope. I’d gone there to join Slimming World, but I was sure the medication I took meant I’d never lose weight. As I chatted to the Consultant, Jenny, she reassured me that there were ways around the comfort eating that I felt so powerless to stop. ‘Anyone can lose weight with the right support,’ she smiled. ‘And I promise you’ll find out if you try...’

As a child, I’d been fit and healthy, then everything changed after my dad died, when I was nine. My personality began to alter and my behaviour became erratic – then I began self-harming.

Mum took me back and forth to the doctor’s, then when I was 16, I tried to jump out of a window. Aftera psychological assessment, I was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and placed in a specialized unit where I was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Shock diagnosis

Although I was now getting the help I needed, the diagnosis came as a huge shock. I was living in a hospital, coping with a life-long disorder that – without treatment – can, in some cases, lead to psychotic episodes. Food became my comfort and I ate whatever I could get my hands on: buttered toast, cakes, crisps.