The background: 1997-2007

It was a holiday that started the rot. From November 1996 to Easter 1997, I kept at my 133lb (9-7) weight, and was very happy with it. Then our Easter break was taken in a nice hotel, with three-course meals and a bottle of wine every night, teacakes with hot chocolate during our days out... and I came home half a stone heavier. Why I didn't just take myself in hand then, I can't imagine - but I didn't. I panicked. The weight came back on, and came off, and went back on, and I didn't fit into my clothes any more... any of this sound familiar??

By November 1999, I was back up to 152 (10-12). So I lost weight, and got down to 142. And what happened next? Just look at the chart... The peaks got higher and higher, and see that green line? that's where somebody of my height is classified as Obese. The blue line is the top of the Normal range. So the bit between the two, for my height, is the Overweight range.

It's when I realised that on my last "attempt" I hadn't even got down to the Normal range that something was going wrong; and it was seeing that Obese green line creeping closer that shocked me into real action. Here I am at my parents' 50th wedding anniversary in October 2006, and by this time - weighing in at my highest ever of 167lb (11-13, teetering on the brink of yet another stone overweight) I really was extremely tired of constantly wearing cover-up.

Ten years of classic yo-yo dieting obviously hadn't done the trick. I needed to call in the cavalry.