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Size Matters

Inside every overweight woman, there’s a curvy lady fighting to get out. The excuses are all well rehearsed... I’ve got big bones, it runs in the family, I sit down all day at work, I had a baby (years ago), I eat because I’m bored.... Then there are the oversized ladies who try to convince themselves and everyone else, that they’re happy with their body image and like being cuddly. There are extremes at both ends of the fat-o-meter scale! Most men given the freedom of speech to say what they really think, would probably not want a stick insect for a wife or girlfriend! But there is something sexy about a woman with curves in all the right places, even well-rounded ones. The nation’s interest in miracle ‘snooze while you lose’ diets, ‘no energy required’ muscle toners and lapsed gym memberships, shows that the mind may be willing for some of the time, but the body is weak for most of it! But then for the “doers” there comes that defining moment that turns it all around! It’s usually a single, memorable incident that stops you in your tracks and those two best friends that helped you through thick and thin... the fridge and the takeaway, suddenly become the enemy. Then it’s time to take that first positive step towards the new you...

JODIE PRENGER, Actress and Singer: Size 26 to Size 10 – Lost 9 stone 9 lbs Jodie is an inspiration to anyone who wants to lose weight and to aspiring singers! She grew up as a plump little girl, her wide smile hiding her frustration as she continued to pile on the pounds with each passing year, and she had begun to think she would always be overweight. However, Jodie’s life changed forever after her appearance on “The Biggest Loser” TV series. Slimming down from 18st 2lbs to 8st 7lbs – she lost an amazing 9st 9lbs and went from a size 26 to a size ten. Over 6 months, with a fitness programme and controlled diet, she lost 46.9% of her body weight and gained a prize of £25,000. She has since settled as a dress size 14, after feeling she was just too thin at the end of the show. On seeing a picture of herself after initially losing weight, she said that she believed she lost too much weight and became too thin at that time. She also commented that she believed all women should have curves.

Jodie found a new energy and lease of life following her weight loss and was determined to pursue her dream of singing stardom. Less than two years later; 7 million viewers watched as Jodie won the BBC’s talent search “I’d Do Anything” and achieved her dream of starring in a West End musical, winning the public vote to star as “Nancy” in Oliver as part of a £100,000 deal.

FERN BRITTON, TV Presenter: Size 22 to Size 16 – Lost over 5 stone

Fern Britton had seemingly spent years telling everyone she was happy to be what she described as a “voluptuous size 16”, insisting life is too short for “boring diets” and that she was proud of her buxom body. Perhaps it was the continued medical advice to shed her excess weight that finally spurred Fern on, or the cruel jibes after pictures of Fern on the beach were printed in 2005. Fern says: “I’d made a concerted effort to improve my fitness and lose weight, but no matter how much I cycled (ten miles three times a week, 50 miles at weekends), no matter how healthily I ate, the pounds still went on. Right: Fern on holiday in 2005

Fern has regained a shapely figure as her weight has dropped over the past 3 years - from left to right: Going 2006, going 2007, gone 2008

My GP would check my sugar and cholesterol levels and they were always fine. But then suddenly, in the summer of 2006, they weren’t. ’We really have to do something about your weight,’ she said.

We discussed my options, as we had many times in the past, but this time our conversation turned to gastric banding, a surgical procedure that constricts the stomach so you feel you’ve had enough after only a few mouthfuls.”

The mother-of-four has starred in adverts for Ryvita Minis, where she poked fun at her own figure. Appearing in the adverts seemed to imply that her weight loss was in someway connected to the product, but she never made any claims to that effect. “Yet what was I to say? Why should my private health issues be made public?

I had been involved with Ryvita for four years and, during that time, they had come up with a series of ridiculous and very funny adverts in which I take the mickey out of my size. It was all tremendous fun.” Fern thinks some people take the whole body image thing too seriously “Everything is presented in a way that implies you will be more attractive to men, more ’beddable’. But those people who are most obsessed with their weight, their beauty regime, their hair, what they wear in bed - those women are often single. Because heaven forbid that anyone should make their cheeks pink and their eyes glisten by having sex with them! They’re like women who get all dressed up for the swimming pool, but never go near the water for fear it’ll make their mascara run. Men don’t want that. There is nothing wrong with aspiration, but what is this obsession with being ’perfect’? No one’s perfect.”

LINDA McKNIGHT, Nursery Nurse:
Size 30 to Size 14 – Lost 13 stone

Linda McKnight, a nursery nurse from Greenock, was shocked into action when a five-year-old in her class painted a picture of a woman with a blob for a body and a blob for a head. “I asked if she had drawn her mummy but she said, ‘No, my mummy’s not fat - that’s you.’ I was devastated and decided it was time I did something about my weight.” Linda weighed 24.5 stone and wore dress size 30; she loved Chinese and Indian food and snacked on chocolate and crisps. Her GP told her she was so heavy, she would need a gastric band to lose the weight, but Linda was determined to do it herself.

She immediately gave up her takeaways and junk food, then joined a Weight Wise slimming group and started counting calories. She also went to the gym and took things slowly and carefully.

It all paid off, now Linda has lost an amazing 13 stone and is down to 11st 2lbs and dropped to dress size 14 and she feels so much fitter.
“Hard work and determination are the only way to get rid of fat safely. It’s taken so long to get this far but I’m proud of myself.”


No pain, no gain
So be inspired to lose weight, there’s no time like the present, find a diet and exercise regime that’s right for you. Just by reducing the amount of food on your plate at meal times will start to make a difference and cutting out fatty foods and unhealthy snacks can work wonders. Swop those spoonfuls of sugar in your tea and coffee for sweeteners and try a brisk half hour walk each day to boost your metabolism and fitness levels.
It doesn’t have to be all about will power and restraint..... here at UKHairdressers HQ the staff try to keep fit and eat sensibly most of the time. However, we have been known to indulge in what’s come to be called the “Friday Afternoon Treat” – a prelude to the weekend, it can be a custard slice, homemade cookies, a marshmallow teacake or two..... the guilt trip wasn’t far away though, when we realised the initials of our Friday Afternoon Treat, spelt out FAT!!!

 

Article by Heather Bell.