FROM MISERY TO MUSCLES

Blaire Palmer, 55, once needed ankle supports to help her walk, but shedding weight transformed everything

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Gazing at the photo on my phone, I could feel a lump forming in my throat. 'I look a mess,' I thought, quickly deleting it. It was 2019, and I'd been keynote speaker at a conference as part of my job as a leadership expert. Smartly dressed in a fitted black dress and yellow jacket, I'd thought I looked elegant and professional when I'd glanced in the mirror that morning. But how wrong I was! 'I look old, frumpy and fat,' I realised, feeling embarrassed.

I was only 49, yet I looked at least a decade older. I suffered from a genetic and progressive condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), which damages the nerves and causes muscle weakness in the feet, ankles and legs. And there was something that was making my symptoms worse. My weight.

Growing up, I hadn't let my condition stop me. As a child, I was always tripping and falling over because my ankles were weak, causing my toes to drop down – but I always gave things a try.

In school I was picked last for every team and came last at every sports day, but my PE teacher wrote on my report card that I always displayed a positive attitude.

That attitude saw me into adulthood. 'There's no point moping,' I'd tell myself, going swimming or cycling, which I found a lot easier than walking or running.

My condition wasn't obvious, though, and for the most part, I just didn't tell people about it. 'Hurry up, slow coach,' friends would laugh when I struggled to keep up with them on walks. Or they'd laugh and call me clumsy when I tripped. They just thought it was the way I was, and not wanting to be defined by CMT, I was happy to keep it to myself.

NEW CHALLENGES

As the years passed, I was successful in my career as a leadership coach, but by the time I was 36, I realised how desperately I wanted to be a mum.