No more EXCUSES

After years of blissful ignorance, Charlie Adjetey, 54, had no choice but to confront her growing waistline

- ASHLEIGH PAGE, PAULA ROBINSON

For years I made excuses for my weight. I was too busy training to be a nurse, too tired from night shifts and had no time to cook. Swapping out my too-tight uniforms for bigger sizes, I ignored my growing waistline, never stepped on a scale and lived in blissful ignorance.

I wasn’t always this way, but after starting nursing training at 19, in 1987, I moved out of my parents’ house and into my own place. Not one for cooking, I often picked up a large portion of chips from the takeaway after work, only stepping into the kitchen to grab a slab of chocolate, a packet of crisps or a stack of buttered bread. To top it off, grateful patients would gift us boxes of chocolates, homemade cakes and other sweets, and I’d tuck in during my shifts. I’d munch away until the whole box was empty and just cake crumbs were left.

Within months, I noticed my size 14 uniform was too tight. Soon I needed another size up, then a few months later, yet another bigger size. But I didn’t let it bother me and my expanding waistline didn’t stop me from meeting my wonderful husband Jalaa, who I married in 1993. We had our two amazing boys in 1996 and 1998 and before I knew it, I was wearing a size 32 uniform. I refused to step on the scales, deciding that it was better not to know.