Yo-yo dieting left me with ‘slim’ clothes I can’t wear but can’t bear to bin
Sarah, 34, says: 'If I bin my size 10s it’s like admitting I’ll never be slim again'
EVER kept hold of a favourite dress that no longer fits purely for sentimental reasons?
Meet yo-yo dieter Sarah Edwards. Sarah has gained and lost so much weight over the years that she can only wear a TENTH of her clothes.
The PA from Great Missenden, Bucks, is currently a size 18 but she has many other dress sizes jostling for wardrobe space — and no intention of getting rid.
She says: “I know it sounds crazy but I just can’t let go. If I bin my size 10s it’s like admitting I’ll never be slim again. I couldn’t bear that.
“So instead my wardrobe is full of clinging stuff I’d never cram into now like bodycon dresses, tailored jackets and jumpsuits with bright colours and sequins.
“I got all of this clobber when I first hit my target weight, in 2012. I’d worked so hard to get into shape that I wanted to show off my figure and be noticed.
“Now, I usually dress to blend into the background.”
Sarah spent most of her twenties on a diet — she’s shed and put on 25st in total — but her weight misery truly began in her teens.
Lacking in confidence, she “felt morbidly obese” at a size 10 to 12.
She explains: “I wasn’t even overweight but I was always curvy and I felt massive next to my skinny friends. Bullies at school told me I was chubby too.
Tackle your demons
PSYCHOLOGIST Dr Pam Spurr, says: “It’s incredibly common to hang on to our ‘slim me’ clothes, feeling optimistic we can shift the pounds if we set our minds to it.
“However that natural optimism can be thrown to the wind when stress hits and an emotional eater is plunged back into reaching for the comfort food.
“Sarah, and anyone who yo-yo diets, needs a steady, sustainable weight loss regime.
Take things slow and deal with demons that drive you to emotionally eat in the first place.
“Talk to your GP, who might recommend counselling or therapy.”
“I started going to WeightWatchers at 14.”
By 19, she had eaten her way to a size 20. And aged 23, she knew her life needed to be turned around. She took up exercise and qualified as a personal trainer.
But then a series of bad relationships left her upset and eating again. She was a size 18 by her late 20s.
Except for a brief spell last year she has stayed roughly that size. Sarah admits to comfort eating. She says: “I’ll order a Hawaiian deep pan for two, potato skins and a tub of Ben & Jerrys ice-cream.
“Sometimes I go to bed thinking: ‘Maybe I should call an ambulance because I’ve eaten way too much.’”
Unable to fit in 90 per cent of her clothes Sarah lives in jeggings and rotates four tops.
Looking at the pile of her clothes she can’t wear, Sarah is visibly shocked.
She says: “I can see dresses I haven’t worn for nearly ten years, it’s gutting.
“But it just makes me all the more determined to lose the weight now.
“There’s no way I would be OK or comfortable in my skin staying a size 18.”
Currently single, Sarah would also like to shift the pounds to meet her dream man.
She says: “They say you shouldn’t lose weight to find a man but I don’t want to meet a guy who likes me as I am because I don’t want to settle at this weight.
most read in fabulous
“I’m trying to learn to embrace my body shape — I’ll always be curvy — but seeing all these clothes I loved wearing does spur me on to get slimming again.
“Hopefully I’ll get back down to a size 12 at least.
“But until then, it’s jeggings or . . . jeggings.”