A NEW WOMAN

For Jess Ponting, 37, a surprise diagnosis helped to decode her problematic relationship with food

- RACHEL TOMPKINS

Lying on my sunbed next to the pool as the sun beamed down, I couldn’t help but notice the lady next to me. She was larger than me with swollen ankles, and her size meant that she was struggling to get off her sun lounger to walk over to the hotel buffet.

Seeing the impact her weight was having on her, I suddenly felt really guilty. ‘If I don’t do something soon, that’s my future,’ I realised. It was September 2022 and I was on holiday in Antalya, Turkey, with my partner Gareth, then 41. As I compared myself to the woman beside me, I was acutely aware of how big I had become.

FEELING THE STRAIN 

Although I didn’t weigh myself, I lived in baggy, size-24 clothes, and my knees, back and joints were constantly aching. I couldn’t do simple things like bend down and clean out a cupboard without feeling out of breath and in pain. And whereas in my 20s I had loved scuba diving, the last time I’d tried to get a wetsuit on, back in 2019, it had been such a struggle that there was no way I would attempt it again!

I’ve always battled with my weight, which was something that I put down to a number of factors. Being a single parent for years to my daughter Alexia, then 16, meant that I’d got into the habit of eating convenience food such as ready meals and takeaways. I worked as a nurse and as I had become more senior, my role had become more sedentary. I also had a very unhealthy relationship with food. For example, I would fixate on certain things and eat the same food every day just so I didn’t have to think about it.