How I Cut Down on the Foods I Loved

The size 18 top stained at the seams, but the idea od buying a size 20 was too awful. I was 30 years old, 5ft 5in, and I had hit 15 ½ stone, I felt fat, frumpy and frustrated. Two years later, I’d lost one and a half stone with Weight Watchers – but piled it all back on again.

My mum Lindy, 52, wanted to help. “Maybe try a tailor-made diet,” she said. So I saw a doctor trained in nutrition. The fee for the consultation was £150.

“I’ll check if you’re intolerant to any foods,” the doctor said. “If your body isn’t digesting some foods well, or it reacts badly to them, it can cause anything from migraines to weight gain.”

She used a pinprick blood test called the Food Detective. It shoes if you’re producing antibodies to food your body is having problems with.

As I didn’t have any symptoms, the doctor was surprised my test showed intolerance to foods such as wheat, eggs and yeast.

“What should I eat?” I asked.

It was mainly fruit and veg. The doctor asked me to detox for a month, to kick start weight loss.

No caffines was hard. Quitting tea caused a two day headache. But after, I felt more refreshed, and soon lost 10 pounds.

A month on, I was allowed meat stir-fries. I also took a probiotic tablet before every meal.

The diet was surprisingly easy. I’d no cravings and more energy. In 10 months I shed four stone. Now I’m 11st 3lb, a size 14.

This diet isn’t for everyone, but it worked for me.

My Tip
Exercise to music. It cheers you up and makes the workouts seem a lot easier.