I was damaging my health with comfort food
Jamella Padovan, 30, is a nurse who lives in Hinckley, leicestershire, with her 36‑year‑old husband mark, a marketing executive, and their three‑year‑old son, luka. She lost 9 st and dropped from a dress size 24 to a 10, going from 18st 10lb to 9st 10lb, after joining WW in February 2020. She is 5ft 1in tall. She says:
The final straw for me came the day I tried on my nurse’s uniform to check it still fitted after being on maternity leave. Luka was 13 months old and I’d last worn it when I was 37 weeks pregnant, so I thought it would fit.
But I couldn’t even do up the zip and I needed to get another uniform six sizes bigger to go back to work. I was mortified and knew then I had to change my mindset and get to grips with my weight.
Although I’ve never been slim, I didn’t put on masses of weight during pregnancy. It was after Luka was born in January 2019 that I turned to food for comfort and began binge eating. Mark was working away and I struggled with breastfeeding and postal-natal depression.
Although I wasn’t hungry, I was always planning what to eat next. It became a compulsion.
My downfall was pastries and cake — I’d think nothing of buying a whole birthday cake if it was discounted in the supermarket and eating it all myself in a couple of days at home.
I didn’t eat three proper meals a day, I just ate whatever I felt like.
I’d think nothing of having scones with clotted cream and jam for breakfast, followed later by a large takeaway from Burger King and a Chinese ready meal for two in the evening. It was out of control.
I became low and reclusive and hated how I looked. I didn’t even want to attend Luka’s first birthday party because I felt that people were looking at me.
And, being overweight and working in a hospital, I was very worried I would be seriously ill if I caught coronavirus.
I was working only a couple of days a week, but my weight meant I suffered bad back pain and sore legs after being on my feet all day. I was looking after people who were dying, yet I was killing myself with food.
One of the most important things I learned at WW, which I joined in February 2020, was to set small, achievable goals — I had so much weight to lose that this was the only way I could focus on achieving my target of getting to a healthy weight for my height.
By August, I had lost 3st. It was liberating to be back in my old uniform and I was buoyed up by the compliments I was receiving from colleagues.
I’d previously lost weight by starving on extreme diets, so I was delighted to find that with WW I could still enjoy foods I loved, so long as I logged all my points and did so in moderation. I loved the WW ‘fakeaway’ recipes I now had access to via the WW app, particularly the curries — they taste authentic but are made with healthier ingredients.
And because I had my weekly and rollover Points to fall back on, I began to change the way I thought about evenings out. Before, if I ate too much, I’d think to myself I’d blown it, so might as well carry on.
But with WW, I could use up my weeklies and rollovers for extra treats — then get back on my programme the next day. I loved the new PersonalPoints programme when I was asked to trial it. As the weight dropped off, I took up exercising and would do online workouts from the WW app in my kitchen during lockdown. I love the fact I can add extra Points to spend on food by being active — I’ve increased my workouts from three times a week to five.
At my heaviest, I struggled to find clothes — I hadn’t owned a pair of jeans since I was about 14. Now I have ten pairs which I wear with little tops tucked in.
My health and life have been transformed thanks to WW. I have so much energy and feel very positive about life.