Size matters

Carol used food to compensate for a tough family life. 'My family lived in Hong Kong and, when my parents split up, I spent a lot of time with a nanny. I was terribly unhappy and she would cheer me up with treats of food. When we moved back to the UK, my grandmother took over and used the same method to comfort me. She would take me out for tea and cream cakes' she says.

But the comfort she felt from food early on did not continue at school - she felt like an outcast. 'I have awful memories of school. I used to live in fear and dread of games because I found them harder than other kids and they would laugh at me.'

The bullying manifested itself in another way - a speech impediment. 'I had a bad stutter right up until I left school at 16. I loathed having to read out loud in English and would break out in a sweat and panic when it was my turn.'

In her mid-teens, Carol wore size 20 clothes. Like everyone else at this age, she wanted to appeal to her male peers so she started to be weight-conscious and diet. 'I decided to try to lose weight and I got down to a more acceptable size 16. I watched what I ate, but still struggled' she says.

The struggle carried on into her married life. 'When I'm upset, I turn to food. At my heaviest, I was 26 stone. Between the third and fifth year of marriage, I put on four to five stone because I was so unhappy and wondered if I'd done the right thing' she says.

Carol is now dieting to lose weight. 'I've been on a low-carb diet for the past two years. I've lost three stone so far.'

One of the reasons for this was another health concern - Carol was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago. 'I nearly had to take tablets for it, but now control it with this diet. My cholesterol has also gone down and I feel much better now' she explains.

And exercise has helped. 'I have started walking twice a week. I'm planning to increase this. If there were special classes for people like me, then I would go' she adds.