Real Life 14 stone lighter and we’ve got our lives back, too!
Working mums Jenefer Gillam and Julie Annesley blamed their lifestyles for their size
THE Hectic nurse ‘I didn’t have time to consider what I ate’
Jenefer Gillam, 49, lives in West Sussex Recently, the biscuits at work were calling my name. Smiling, I picked up a satsuma instead. How things have changed!
I’d been overweight most of my life and as a mum to my son, Ethan, now 12, and daughter, Eva, six, as well as juggling a busy job overseeing a team of nurses, I didn’t think I had time to consider what I ate. Then, when Eva was two, I began studying for a masters degree and my own health became even less of a priority.
Food is fuel, but I chose the wrong kind – eating biscuits in meetings and ordering takeaway curries for me and my partner, Glenn. I had the occasional embarrassing moment, like the time I couldn’t squeeze onto a theme-park ride with the kids, but mostly, my weight didn’t bother me.
Then, in 2015, several relatives developed illnesses – some of them weight-related. I was in my mid-40s with two young kids, yet so unfit I had to take the lift rather than the two flights of stairs to my office. My knees throbbed and I had chronic indigestion.
The following January, I joined WW. Discovering I weighed 21st 3lb was mortifying, but losing 5lb in my first week gave me hope.
Feeling fitter as I lost weight was exhilarating and, a year later, I joined a gym. Now I do five classes a week. I used to think making time to exercise was a luxury I couldn’t afford, but now I know it’s essential for my health and therefore Ethan and Eva’s wellbeing, too.
I’m thrilled to say my indigestion and knee pain have disappeared. I’ve also sold my stretchy clothes and invested in smart trousers and dresses. I’m proof you can have it all – a career, family and good health!