NO MORE BISCUITS FOR BREAKFAST

Gill Parkin, 58, knew she had to curb her addiction

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Pushing the pack of Bourbons and bars of chocolates to the back of the cupboard, I hid them with tins of beans and bags of rice. I didn't want my husband Tom, then 53, to see them so I usually waited until he'd gone to bed before I pulled them from their hiding place and scoffed the lot.

It was February 2022 and my eating habits were out of control. I'd always struggled with my weight and often signed up to weight-loss programmes like Weight Watchers, but my willpower never lasted and I'd end up yo-yoing with the same couple of pounds before quitting. I'd been off-programme since June 2021 and my diet had completely fallen apart.

'IT WAS ALL TOO EASY TO SNACK AWAY' S

Instead of eating three nutritious meals a day plus healthy snacks, I munched my way through an entire packet of biscuits for breakfast most mornings, before favouring crisps, cake or chocolate over a proper meal at lunch. I was a sugar addict! And working in a petrol station I was surrounded by chocolate bars, crisps and biscuits. It was all too easy to buy some treats and snack away all day.

Then back home for teatime, I'd prepare hearty meals of spaghetti bolognese, but I always piled the portions high, never weighing out the correct amount of spaghetti and burying the meaty tomato sauce under a mountain of cheese.

LIVING IN DENIAL