Jenni Murray: Fat Cow? Fat chance
After decades of obesity, Dame Jenni Murray overcame her issues with gastric surgery that she calls her ‘Fat Chance’ for a better quality of life…
In 2014, distinguished broadcaster Dame Jenni Murray, who has fronted Newsnight and presented Radio 4’s flagship Woman’sHour since 1987, underwent a sleeve gastrectomy
– an operation which removed 80 per cent of her stomach. Having lost 10st and kept it off, Jenni, 70, who has two grown-up sons with husband David, has now written a book, Fat Cow,FatChance, that combines a memoir with an investigation into the science of obesity.
The title of your book is quite bold…
I have been called a ‘fat cow’ so many times in my life, so I was very set on it. I feel fat-shaming should be classed as hate speech – for so many people, obesity is far more complicated than eating too much and not exercising enough. James Corden said, ‘If fat-shaming worked, there would be no fat kids in school.’ It doesn’t drive you to lose weight, it drives you into depression and misery.
When did you first put on weight?
At university, I was eating a lot of chips, toast and drinking in the union bar. I lost it, though – it sounds unbelievable now, but my doctor prescribed me amphetamines and I went down to under 7st. I had no idea what was in the tablets! And then later, when I was living alone in London during the week doing Woman’s
Hour, and my family were up North – I’d be up early, have a few lattes and a couple of croissants and then a big lunch. It crept on.
Did you try and diet?
Oh, I tried every diet known to man or woman. And I have always taken exercise – I’ve done yoga, walked a lot, I rode horses for years. But I just couldn’t lose it and keep it off. I tried to make out I was fat and happy, but it was a front.
And you don’t think weight gain is as simple as overeating and not taking enough exercise?
No, it is far more complicated. There is genetics, the hormone situation – the environment. The research is only just beginning.
What made you decide to have the surgery?
I was 64, I weighed 24st and was glucose intolerant – the first step to Type 2 diabetes. My son Charlie and I were in the park. We saw a woman on a disability scooter, and he said ‘Mum, if you don’t do something – that will be you.’ Also, I had a new doctor who made me step on the scales for the first time in years and said, ‘ We really need to do something about your weight.’ So, after a great deal of research, I opted for the gastrectomy.
And you had a great result! I went from 24st to 14st very, very quickly. Now, I can walk through the park without having to sit down every 30 seconds! I eat whatever
I like, but only small quantities. I sometimes feel a little peckish, but I’m never ravenously hungry and I am very quickly full.
What about alcohol?
I will drink one or two glasses of very good wine, or the occasional vodka and tonic. My friends and I used to treat dry white wine as if it were non-alcoholic! My friend Sally and I always say the five most dangerous words in the English language are, ‘Shall we open another bottle?’
Is surgery the solution to the obesity crisis?
Well, it’s not for everybody. In the past, people said, ‘ We can’t spend NHS money on lazy, fat people.’ But politicians are starting to realise it’s more complex than that. And the operation pays for itself – it removes the conditions that go hand-in-hand with obesity.
What are your views on the ‘fat positivity movement’?
Well, it’s all very well in some ways, as why should you hate your body, or be ashamed of it? But you have to think of the dangers. I mean, look at me. My breast cancer was caused by my obesity – and I had a double hip-replacement partly caused by the chemotherapy.
The book’s so personal, did you have reservations about being so open?
Not really! When you’re trying to make people understand one of the biggest problems of our era you have to be honest. People have to know that even someone who has a done a really interesting programme for 33 years and has a very good reputation for her journalism, in one way, her life was a complete mess.
So how was life in lockdown for you?
I was locked down in London with my three dogs, as I was working, and my husband was on the south coast where we’re house-hunting, so we didn’t see each other for three-anda-half months. But now the next thing is buying a house, which is exciting, although I hate moving. All that awful stuff, like sorting the curtains.
Have you changed how you dress, now you’re slim?
No! I cannot stand shopping. I am completely uninterested in fashion. I just want to get up in the morning, have a shower, do my hair, put my make-up on and not think about it. I mean, I wouldn’t go out in my pyjamas, but I just want life to be easy.