THE MOMENT THAT MADE ME SLIM

Humiliation and terrifying truths led Claire Kelly, 48, to make a big decision

- KARA O’NEILL, RACHEL SALVETA

As I reached for a carton of milk, I caught sight of a little girl looking at me. ‘Mummy, look how fat that lady is,’ she said loudly, pointing in my direction. I saw the girl’s mother gasp, her cheeks red with embarrassment as she hurriedly shuffled her daughter and their trolley towards the end of the aisle.

I plastered a smile on my face, doing my best to convince myself that a silly comment from a child wasn’t going to bother me, but inside I was humiliated.

There was no denying it – I was overweight. In fact, I was the biggest I’d ever been.

Not that I’d stepped on the scales in years, though. I’d last weighed myself in 2013 when I’d married my husband Mark, now 55. Determined not to be a fat bride, I’d lost 5st, and on my wedding day, I wore a size-20 dress. Mark made it clear he loved me no matter what I looked like, but I’d done it for myself and I felt amazing.

Only, once the honeymoon was over, I soon slipped back into my old ways.

A stressful day at work, running my own cake shop, had me heading straight to a takeaway – Chinese and Indian were my favourites – and I’d munch on biscuits all day, too. Some days, I’d have a whole pack just for breakfast. ‘I haven’t got time to make myself anything,’ I’d reason.

I knew the weight was piling on, but at the same time, I was blissfully happy – and as a confident person, I didn’t really care what other people thought about me.