Fat bride slims to half her size
But Susanne Marshall looks at her big day picture and wonders where half her BODY
went.
Mum-of-two Susanne, 33 — who at her peak was a SIZE 30 — can now
fit inside her wedding dress with a PAL.
She finally beat the battle of the bulge — shedding a whopping nine stone
after years of yo-yo dieting.
Susanne, from Bathgate, West Lothian — now a slim 12 stone — said: “When I
look at myself in that wedding dress I can’t believe two of us can fit into
it.
“We had a right giggle over it but I also feel so proud of what I’ve achieved.”
Susanne began piling on weight in her teens and by the time she got to
university she was already a size 20.
She said: “I did the Rosemary Conley diet before graduation and managed to
slim down to a size 16.
“But it was very restricting and not suited to student life, so the weight
went back on.”
As she began building up her business as a podiatrist, she ate on the run.
She said: “I’d skip breakfast, snack on crisps, then hit the takeaway on my
way home.”
When she married IT engineer Ewen, 38, seven years ago, her wedding gown was
made to measure her ample curves.
Susanne and Ewen honeymooned in Mexico. But hitting the scales then at over
19st left Susanne suffering the sweltering heat in kaftan dresses. She said:
“Then I had my daughter Sarah, who is five now, and got postnatal
depression, so I had Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which tackles all your
negative thoughts.”
At 30 she fell pregnant with her son Michael, now two — and after he was born
she finally decided to tackle her weight — using what she’d learned in CBT
sessions.
She said: “Losing weight doesn’t begin in your tummy — it begins in your HEAD.
“Sarah was about to start school and I didn’t want to be the fat mum at the
school gates.
“At the time I was 21st 3lbs wearing a size 30, and I thought I was too far
gone.
“I’d read magazine articles about women like me and think, ‘I wish I could do
that’.
“It was overwhelming. But once I’d got my head sorted, I signed up for
WeightWatchers.
“Then I joined a Zumba class twice a week. Goodness knows what everyone must
have thought at this great sweaty lump dancing around, but I didn’t care —
the weight fell off.
“Once my mind was into the new eating regime everything changed. I began
cooking and loved it. I started walking. Before, I couldn’t get my car
parked near enough to the supermarket!
“And as the pounds melted away I felt great. I had more energy for the kids
and a much more positive outlook.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been a bubbly, outgoing type and to a great
extent I was the jolly fat girl.
“Now I was turning into a deliriously happy slim girl.”
So slim in fact, that when her pal Michelle Hague visited from Germany, the
two of them easily slipped into Susanne’s wedding dress.
Last year Susanne took part in the Half Moon marathon challenge in Edinburgh
for breast cancer awareness.
She said: “I loved it so much I’m doing the full Moonwalk challenge in June.
That’s where everyone wears a decorated bra. Before I lost weight my bra
size was a 52H! Now I’m a 34E.
“I raised £600 and hope to raise more this year.
“Last weekend I did a half-marathon. That’s 13-and-a-half miles. Who’d ever
have thought it?
“I even inspired Ewen to give up smoking six months ago. He quit his 20-a-day
habit and we’ve both turned our lives around.
“I am loving my new life.”
See walkthewalk.org
for info.
yvonne.bolouri@the-sun.co.uk
Article source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/scotlandfeatures/4265447/Fat-bride-slims-to-half-her-size.html
Share and Enjoy
Categories: Fat Loss Diary Tags: BODY, HEAD, PAL, Rosemary Conley