Growing up in Glasgow in the early 1950s, I always felt like the odd one out in our family. I was probably on the thin side as a child but I didn’t look “right,” I was pale, with straight red hair, whereas most girls had blond or brown curly hair and rosy cheeks.
During my teenage years in the early 1960s, my weight started to go up, and I got a lot of negativity from my mum, aunt, and sister. I didn’t know what I wanted to be as most girls seemed to look like either Marilyn Monroe or a Sunday School teacher. And I felt odd, as I didn’t like the fashions, and I wasn’t sporty. I think my mother despaired of me as I wasn’t the “tennis club” daughter she would have liked.
My younger sister was, unfortunately, especially good at goading me about my shortcomings. It wasn’t an easy time for me, and by the time I left school I weighed around 12 stone. I went on to study Pharmacy but it wasn’t a wild student life at all. Back then in Scotland virtually everyone lived at home and it was study, study, study, while feeling overweight and odd.
Things got better in the late 1960s, during the whole hippy scene. I think I looked more “acceptable” with the loose, drapey fashions that fitted everyone from a size 6 to a size 20. And I made a lot of my own clothes too, so I could choose how I looked.
I lost a lot of weight when I left home but sadly it still fluctuated over the years. Veering between a size 12/14 and 16/18, with a “one-size fits all” and my own homemade clothes, I didn’t really “own” a dress size.
I got married at 35 and had my two sons at 39 and 41. Amazingly, I had two healthy pregnancies and NO WEIGHT GAIN! But, after their births, my weight fluctuated again, which my husband didn’t like, so our marriage didn’t last. However, I was happy as a single parent, and had a really nice life with my two sons.
Factors like frequent overwork contributed to my weight gain, and at the end of 1997 it was baaaad! Although, as I still dressed the same way, I don’t think people really noticed. I’d planned to START THE DIET in the New Year, at the beginning of 1998, but somehow didn’t…
Why I chose LighterLife
Then, in mid-January, I saw a small advert in a local newspaper for Obesity Lifeline (now known as LighterLife) saying, “Lose 3 stone in 3 months – ring Catherine.” So, I did. And 26 years ago, on 1st February 1998 I joined Obesity Lifeline, signing up with a Mentor.
The word Obesity was a nasty jolt, but I loved the word Lifeline. There were 10 of us in our group and we met on Sunday mornings. It was a great support.
And from the beginning of February to the beginning of June, I lost 4 stone 8 pounds in 4 months!
As soon as I started the programme, I felt on a high, as if a magical power had lifted me up from all those years of weight drudgery. I had no desire to eat anything except the Foodpacks. After following the programme, including the Management plan, I really felt like I’d conquered what had been bugging me all my life.
All this wonderful transformation came about when I was 52. I hadn’t told any friends or work colleagues what I was doing, and my clothing choices and the pharmacy white coats meant no-one noticed. But they were all amazed when they eventually saw my weight loss! Unlike my sister, who I didn’t see that often, who just said, “You’re not meant to be thin.” That brought to me the wonderful quote I’d saved on my notice board. (Below)
Mentoring and Group Support
About two years later, I tackled what we called the “Rogue Stone” for the first time, and then more recently, the “Covid Stone.” Both were defeated with the help of LighterLife, and my weight has never returned to anything like what it was.
At the time of writing, over the last 26 years, I’ve lost neither the original spiritual/moral uplift I gained with Obesity Lifeline/LighterLife, nor have I regained all the weight I lost!
After the demise of my original group, I found Sally in London, and her excellent group that I could connect with if I ever needed to kick the “Rogue Stone” into touch.
Then, I moved to Dublin in 2011 and discovered LighterLife Ireland, with group meetings in Leixlip, which were easy to get to. I joined Katrina’s wonderful online support group, which is still keeping me on track to this day.
Nowadays, I’m a size 10, including my jeans. While I don’t think I could be called a Perfect 10 (I have huge knees I like to keep hidden), I’m very happy to be an Imperfect 10!
