My Time To Shine!

After struggling through the heartache of trying to have another baby, Fiona McWilliam was determined she’d celebrate her 40th birthday feeling fabulous.

Fiona had always been a cheerful, chatty person, but as she approached 40 her sunny personality dimmed.

Already mum to a gorgeous toddler, Kody, Fiona was struggling after miscarrying three times since his birth.

“I was always the bright, bubbly, silly one, and made this a trait of mine to compensate for being the biggest,” Fiona says. “But after losing three babies in two years, I was in a real hole. I was so down. That bright bubbly person had disappeared.

“With being overweight my whole life, combined with the miscarriages, I’d become sad and quiet and cranky. I used to shy away and not go out and I just disappeared into the background.

“I didn’t like any part of me, really. I had the most beautiful little boy – he was blossoming and I was just missing it. I was thinking, ‘I should be doing stuff with him, I should be having a great time.’”

Fiona says she had put on weight with every pregnancy, including Kody’s, as she would eat more at first when she was pregnant, and then later to comfort herself in the heartbreak that followed.

At almost 83kg she felt miserable, but knew she needed to make a change so she could be the best mum possible for Kody.

“So after that third miscarriage, I went, ‘That’s it, I’m done with having another baby for now.’ I just needed to fix myself so the rest of my life could come together,” she says.

“I knew Marie Elliott was the most amazing Weight Watchers Coach. I walked back in her door, two to three weeks after the last miscarriage and said, ‘I’m here, I’m doing it for me. I’m turning 40 – this is my time to shine.’”