Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The chocoholic who lost 8 stone eating... chocolate
At last mum-of-two Kerrie found a diet she could stick to... because it made a virtue of her favourite food. By Kelly Strange
KERRIE Kidman had ballooned to a size 24, gorging on family slabs of chocolate, chocolate milkshakes and chocolate ice creams.
The 28-year-old mother of two had failed every diet going, thanks to her addiction. But now the self-confessed chocoholic, who once weighed 17st 12lb, has lost EIGHT stone thanks to eating nothing but her favourite food.
The married supermarket worker, who’s now a size 8, says she has never looked or felt better – and it’s all thanks to chocolate.
She says: “It’s a dream come true, isn’t it, to lose weight without giving up the food you love most?
“I still can’t believe I’ve finally done it. Diets always failed because of my sweet tooth, so this plan was perfect for me.”
Kerrie, from Saffron Waldon, Essex, had been overweight since childhood and bullied at school because of her size.
The bullying meant she tried to lose weight and was a size 12 when she met husband Ian, a taxi driver, when she was 18.
That year she gave birth to their first child, son Preslee, now nine, but by that time was a size 16. When daughter Rihanna, now six, came along three years later, she had crept up to a size 18.
But treating herself to giant bags of chocolate meant her weight was soon spiralling. And as a busy mum she was relying more and more on convenience food and takeaways.
She says: “It was hard finding something we all liked. It was just easier and quicker to pop a pizza in the oven or buy some burgers. I knew I was getting bigger, but I was in denial.”
Kerrie continued to binge on chocolate. And any attempts to lose weight always failed because she simply could not give it up.
“I don’t drink or smoke – chocolate is my only vice and I just love it,” she says. “I looked forward to it so much that without it I was miserable, so my diets never lasted.”
Concerned family urged her to lose weight when she reached a size 22, but Kerrie continued to ignore the issue.
Even when she got out of breath while walking, she kept making excuses. “I’d blame it on it being humid, anything but me being fat.”
But the supermarket assistant couldn’t ignore her weight when she had to ask for a bigger uniform.
She says: “It was humiliating having to admit that my size 22 trousers were too small and ask my supervisor to order me a bigger size.”
Last year, her weight peaked at 17st 12lbs. By then she was up to a shocking size 30.
The family would spent their summer holidays in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, but Kerrie had always made excuses not to go on any of the rides at the Pleasure Beach.
But in August last year her son Preslee was desperate for his mum to ride a new kids’ coaster with him while daughter Rihanna rode with dad Ian.
Kerrie says: “I’d always feared deep down that I was too big for the rides,
It was so humiliating having to admit to my supervisor that my size 22 trousers had got far too small
on with so my husband“But Presleewe could and waved. him, kids on whilealways took squeezeso I reallytheI watchedagreedin together.”wanted telling me myselfto go As they Kerrie neared began the feeling front anxious.of the art was racing and I was feeling limbed in but it was clear that e my bum had nowhere to spill was never going to fit. I was ed that the young attendant tching. He just smiled politely d it was OK for my son to ride own.” She says watching the other parents with the eir children while her son rode alone was soul-destroying. “I didn’t just feel like the worst mum in the world – I felt completely and utterly useless,” she says. “That was by far my lowest ebb.” She spent the rest of the holiday
trying to be jolly for her family’s sake but knew she could no longer ignore her weight.
When she heard about the Cambridge Weight Plan (CWP) meal replacement diet, she was intrigued.
She says: “I knew it involved replacing meals with CWP shakes and bars, so went online to research it in more depth. When I read that there was a chocolate shake and bar, I just knew I had to try it.”
Kerrie learned that the plan had been developed by doctors. It involved replacing all her meals with products from the range which contained all the nutrients her body would need while controlling her calories at the same time. While most users vary the flavours they choose for each meal, there was no reason why Kerrie could not stick to her favourite – chocolate.
She contacted a local weight-loss consultant, Keeley Kenzie, who agreed it was safe for her to follow the plan using just one-flavour products.
“She encouraged me to try a few other flavours, which I did, but I just loved the chocolate,” says Kerrie. She signed up and started the plan using four shakes a day. One week on, she had lost five pounds. She says: “Considering I hadn’t given up my chocolate, I was thrilled, and I knew then this had a real chance of working.” She drank four chocolate shakes a day, losing 4lbs a week for the next month, before reducing to three shakes a day. Over the next three months, she lost on average another 4lbs a week. By February this year, she was an astonishing five stone down. She says: “I couldn’t believe a diet was actually working for me.” Then a size 14, she introduced CWP chocolate flavour meal replacement bars to her diet. She continued using a mix of bars and shakes until she’d lost seven stone by May this year. She then began introducing a healthy home-cooked stir-fry or home-made salad for her evening meal.
Kerrie lost another stone, taking her total loss to eight stone.
Now a size eight, she weighs 9st 12lb.
Recently she revisited Great Yarmouth and went on all the rides with her children.
She says: “When I started, deep down I never thought I would really stick to it, but as the weeks passed, I began to believe I could do it and I know that is because I could still have chocolate.
“My health has improved and I’ve never been healthier or happier.
“Chocolate got my body into a mess, but it also helped get me out of it. I’ll never be able to give it up – but now I only eat my healthy chocolate bars alongside other healthy foods.”
When I was too big to fit on the ride, I didn’t just feel like the worst mum in the world, I felt totally useless