Karen Sandison

She found she didn’t get hungry on the diet, and could call for help when she hit a bad spot.

She was weighed once a week, and within the first week had lost a few kilograms. “Some weeks I lost only a few hundred grams, others a kilogram or so, but once you start seeing results you’re encouraged to keep going.”

On the TLC programme you choose how much weight to lose, and Karen decided on 20kg. When she got there, she realised she could lose more, and ended up losing about 33kg.

It took about seven months to achieve. Today she maintains her weight at 66kg, having increased it a little from 64kg as she felt she had lost too much.

Karen embraced the programme rigidly. “For at least the first months I stuck to it to the letter. I wanted to give it my all, and I feel it was seriously worth the effort.”

As for exercise, Karen confesses “zip, zero and zilch!”

“They do recommend an exercise routine but I didn’t follow it,” she says.

Her life has changed permanently since she began. “I shop for healthy foods and only on rare occasions do I get a chocolate or packet of chips.

“And when I shop for clothes, I no longer buy baggy clothes but more figurefitting outfits. I have given away all my ‘big clothes’ so that I never go back to my old ways.

“My husband tells friends and family that he’s married to a new woman,” says Karen.

It has also given her newfound confidence. “If I need to do something challenging,