‘I Had To Practise What I Preached'

Jill Wood, 39, was always telling her patients to eat more healthily, but she wasn’t following her own advice

- Frances

Slowly pushing my desk drawer closed so my patient wouldn’t catch sight of the packet of chocolate chip cookies I’d stashed inside, I grabbed my pen and started making notes.

‘I can refer you to the local fitness centre but you will have to really cut down on sugar,’ I explained. But as I said it, I didn’t dare to look him in the eye, afraid he might take one look at my own bulging frame and laugh. The truth was, at 17th 7lbs, I was probably more overweight than he was.

Feeling like a fraud

As soon as he left, I glugged the rest of the full-fat latte I’d picked up at lunchtime from the local coffee shop and sighed.

Here I was, in August 2018, a nurse in a GP surgery, giving out advice on healthy eating and lifestyle changes when I couldn’t even fit into my size 20 nurse uniform without a squeeze.

I felt like such a fraud, a hypocrite, and knew it was time I started following my own advice for the good of my health.