You’ll never believe it: ‘I’m not the fat sister any more’
Amanda Carroll, 33, envied her sister’s great figure so she vowed to get one too
Standing at the edge of the dance floor with my sister, Suzanne, I gently bopped to the music. Suddenly a man lurched past us. ‘Oi, fatty,’ he jeered, before staggering away.
Suzanne squeezed my hand. ‘Ignore him,’ she said and I forced a smile, determined not to ruin our night out. But inside, his words smarted.
It was 2011 and, aged 27, it wasn’t the first time my size 22 figure had drawn insults. Yet it didn’t make it any easier. I longed to be like Suzanne. Five years older than me and a size 10, she’d always been my ‘little’ big sister. Even as a child, I’d been the chubby one. Racked with insecurity, I comfort ate, secretly scoffing crisps and sausage rolls. By the time I left school and became a teaching assistant at 18, I was a size 20.
As Suzanne went on to marry, I struggled to get a boyfriend. On nights out, strangers would cruelly snigger and shout names at me. Suzanne always told me not to listen, but their nasty comments cut deep and food became my emotional crutch. But though takeaways made me feel temporarily better, the effect on my weight was catastrophic. By 28, I could only wear size 28 clothes.
Then in 2012, our mum, Barbara, 57, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After a year of treatment, doctors told us she was in remission. But the shock of almost losing Mum made me think about my own health. I realised it was time to take control.
‘I can’t carry on like this,’ I told Suzanne one day, when she’d come round to see me at my house in Dungannon, Northern Ireland. Seeing my determination, Suzanne helped me join a slimming group. I weighed 22st 13lb. I was given a meal plan with a healthy mix and match of breakfasts, lunches and dinners to cook from scratch. In the first week I lost 7lb. I taught myself to reach for an apple or grapes when I needed to snack instead of crisps. Suzanne kept an eye on me, often suggesting we go for walks together. ‘I’m really proud of you,’ she’d tell me, and it would give me the boost I needed to keep going. As my clothes got looser, I stopped feeling like the fat sister and started liking who I was. By May 2016, 18 months after I’d started, I’d managed to lose 11st 8lb. Nowadays, I weigh 10st 9lb and some people even say that Suzanne, 38, and I look more like twins than sisters. We love swapping clothes and going shopping together. We were always the best of friends but helping me lose weight has brought us even closer.