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Super slimmer Samantha was bigger than her Christmas tree last year - look at her now

Health

SamFeast;weightlossLast Boxing Day, Samantha Feast scrolled through the images on her phone reliving the Christmas she had just enjoyed.

But she gasped in horror at a photo her husband David had taken of her.

Next to their beautifully decorated tree was no angel – in her own eyes at least – but a woman with a huge stomach, giant double chin and a face rounder than a Christmas pudding.

That woman was Samantha and as she burned red and hastily swiped on to the next photograph, she swore next Christmas would be different.

Now, thanks to that photograph, Samantha has lost an incredible nine stone in 12 months, going from a size 30 to a size 14.

“This will be my first slim Christmas and I can’t wait. I used to dread finding a party outfit but now I’ve had my pick in all the shops,” says Samantha, 43, from Warminster, Wilts.

“I was horrified when I saw the picture of me next to the Christmas tree but I’m so glad David took it. It has changed my life. Confidence is the best present I could ask for.”

Mum to two daughters Anna, 16, and Kate, 12, Samantha can’t remember a time when she wasn’t overweight.

“My whole family were food lovers and I grew up enjoying lovely big meals around the table with the family.

“I was always urged to clear my plate and happily obliged.”

But her waistline suffered and by the time she turned 18 she already weighed 95.2544 Kg and wore a dress size 18.

She was a size 20 when she met and married David, 44, an office manager.

“My weight didn’t bother him at all. He loved me as I was so I didn’t worry,” she says.

Then while pregnant with their first child, Samantha made the most of the old adage of ‘eating for two’.

“I just gave in to anything I fancied. It was like a free pass to eat however much I wanted without feeling too greedy,” she says.

Their daughter Anna was born in 1998, followed by Kate in 2001 and Samantha’s frame continued to grow.

“Eating for two had left me with a bigger appetite than before,” she says.

Juggling two children with two jobs, as a hairdresser and a part-time nursery assistant, meant time was short and Samantha relied on convenience food.

“I would come home exhausted and tell myself I didn’t have time to cook a big meal from scratch so I’d pop a pizza and some frozen chips in the oven so I could spend time with the kids instead of cooking,” she recalls.

“I’d always have a second helping too and sides of garlic bread smothered in cheese and would spend as long as possible around the dining table with the family – like I had done as a child.”

Then with the children tucked up in bed Samantha would drink hot chocolate in front of the television.

“I was aware I was big but I told myself drinks didn’t count,” she says.

A slice of cake and a few biscuits were an evening treat.

On weekends she enjoyed carb-heavy breakfasts like crumpets smothered in butter and jam or honey washed down with hot chocolate.

Lunches were always carb-heavy too, usually buttered rolls crammed with cheese and ham, followed by a bag of crisp and biscuits afterwards.

Her job in the nursery meant children often brought in birthday cake to share with the staff and Samantha found it impossible to resist.

But she was getting bigger year after year.

She’d always loved fashion but found it hard to find anything other than black leggings and black tent-like tops to fit her growing body.

“I still tried to make an effort with my hair and make-up and I guess to the outside world I was big and bubbly – on the inside I was getting more and more unhappy with my weight,” she says.

By December 2013, her weight had crept up to 133.4 Kg. Her size 28 jeans were bursting at the seams but she refused to buy a size 30.

More worryingly, she had started to experience breathlessness walking, especially climbing stairs.

At the work Christmas party in a restaurant a few weeks before Christmas she posed in a hat from a cracker while a pal snapped a picture on her phone.

“I went red when I saw the picture because my face looked so fat and round it might explode. I looked rounder than a Christmas pudding,” she says.

But with Christmas to look forward to she pushed dieting to the back of her mind again.

David assured her he loved her ­regardless of her size but Samantha could see he was concerned about her.

When he asked her to pose next to the tree on Christmas Day she recalls feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

“I hated having my photo taken by that stage but it was Christmas Day and I didn’t want to make a fuss,” she says.

“Of course I knew I was big but when I saw it the next day I couldn’t believe it. I looked bigger than the Christmas tree.”

It was the wake-up call she had been waiting for and in January this year Samantha signed up to the Cambridge Diet weight-loss plan.

Conventional diets had failed in the past because she couldn’t control her portion size so the plan took temptation out of the way altogether.

Instead of her usual carb-heavy dinners, she enjoyed shakes, soups or bars.

“At first I missed food terribly and I thought it was going to be impossible, ­especially at nursery when the ­children were bringing in cake,” she says.

“But I thought of that picture next to the Christmas tree and stuck to the plan.

“After the first few days I found it easier not to have to think about food because it was out of the equation.”

She lost 9lb in the first week and it was the boost she needed to keep going.

As the weight continued to fall off, Samantha also started walking and swimming to boost her losses.

She was determined to reach her goal by Christmas. Weekly weigh-ins with her weight-loss consultant helped to keep her motivated.

Losing a steady 3lb per week, by October she reached 82.6 Kg and a size 16.

She says her daughters brimmed with approval when she picked her Christmas outfit – a sparkly silver top and skinny jeans.

“They said I looked great and seeing them proud of me made it worth it. I love that David no longer has to worry about me because I can run up and down the stairs without losing breath now.”

As Christmas approaches she has lost even more weight and now weighs 76.2 Kg and is a size 14.

She’s also fulfilled a fashion wish to buy a trendy North Face coat.

“For the first time ever I like what I see in the mirror and it’s all thanks to that photograph,” she says.

 

FAT FILE

WEIGHT BEFORE: 133.36 Kg

DRESS SIZE BEFORE: 28–30

WEIGHT NOW: 76.2 Kg

SIZE NOW: 14

 

WHAT SAM ATE BEFORE

Breakfast: Crumpets smothered with jam or honey and a cup of hot chocolate

Lunch: Sandwich with cheese and ham, bag of crisps, biscuits and tea

Dinner: Pizza, garlic bread, chips

Snacks: Cake, biscuits, hot chocolate

WHAT SHE EATS NOW

Breakfast: Porridge with skimmed milk or a low-fat cereal bar

Lunch: Low-fat soup

Dinner: Chicken breast with steamed vegetables

Snack: Fruit and nuts

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