Diabetes shock gave Elise kick she needed
Mum of one drops seven stone and six dress sizes by overhauling eating habits
EliseRoss was in the loo at a wedding when she overheard two other guests talking. They were saying they weren’t sure which way to get into the venue – but that they’d just followed “that big fat woman”. A mortified Elise realised she was the woman they were talking about. She felt like slinking out of the venue, but it was just the latest in a long line of embarrassments and awkward moments. The final straw in shedding excess weight, though, came when she feared she was going to have to start taking insulin to control her diabetes. The additional spur was knowing that it was the disease that claimed the life of her dad at the same kind of age. Now Elise, 54, has turned her health fortunes around totally by losing almost seven stone. “I had been morbidly overweight for most of my adult life,” said mum-of-one Elise, who lives in Glasgow. “I was in and out of the gym quite a lot, but I was in an unhappy marriage and I was a comfort eater. I had tried every fad diet you could think of but nothing made any difference. “At one stage when I lived in Reading I got diet pills from my doctor which were utterly horrendous. Any time I lost a stone I put it on, plus more.” General unhealthy eating and snacking was Elise’s downfall. “If I was driving to work I would stop and have a little breakfast despite the fact that I’d had breakfast before I left the house. I’d keep snacks in the car and that pattern of eating was a habit I’d gotten into and I just couldn’t stop. I’d go and buy some ‘proper’ food shopping – and then stick a few packets of biscuits, a few cakes, a few bars of chocolate into the trolley.” It got so bad that Elise could barely walk any distance and the stairs to get to her flat left her gasping and feeling in need of an oxygen mask. Her self-confidence took a battering. She felt embarrassed at having to seek out plus-size shops and ranges and outings with friends were limited as she’d feel she was the one who stood out. As the pounds piled on, Elise’s cholesterol and blood pressure levels increased worryingly and so too did her blood sugar levels. And it was the stark words from her doctor that Elise would have to be put on insulin injections that proved to be the tipping point. “My father died, when I was still in my 20s, of complications caused by diabetes. He was just 52 and I was