You're right it is very emotional and I think its lovely to see us all coming together to share our experiences. it's lovely to get support from our fellow cambridge dieters we're like a pact or a partnership on our weight-lose journeys together.

I never had a problem with my weight until I went to secondary school.  I put on a few stone in weight but lost it easily with WW.  Then when I was 17, in sixth form I had my first serious boyfriend.  He seemed very nice and loving but after having been together a while he became very jealous and controlling, not wanting me to go out or see friends.  Eventually he become violent, but was clever enough to not mark my face.  I dont comfort eat, when I am stressed or unhappy I get nervous stomach and cant eat, and often I am sick.  Because I was constantly unhappy and felt out of control with my life I virtually stopped eating, usually having one meal a day, which I didnt finish.  It was the only thing I could control.  When I was 18 I was about a size 6-8 and at 5ft 7 that is not a nice look.  He would still tell me i was fat and ugly.  When I eventually dumped him I started to have a normal relationship with food again as I wasnt stressed and unhappy. 

My problems stem from comfort eating i have never been this big before but over the last year, my world was shattered.

May last year was awful my friend’s marriage had broken down and he disappeared to his mothers not talking to anyone who he could have. Within 10 days of there split he hung himself. Leaving behind his three small children the very same week my dad was diagnosed with cancer.

My mother is ill with COPD so she could not fight for what he needed so it was down to my sister and me. I spent my days fighting social services to get my dad the equipment he needed to stay at home and supporting my friend’s wife and three kiddies.

While I was doing this, i was also taking  A levels and was in the final term of my course.

I helped my friend’s wife to organise the funeral and supported the children as well as i could when she could not. Then would rush off to my parents house and do that there too my mother was in denial about the severity of my fathers condition, he was already dependant on my mum for everything as he was in a wheelchair and had had several strokes before hand.

Social services weren’t very forth coming with help so i had to continue to fight...  

My friends funeral was held on 1st June once that was over i continued look after his wife and 3 children.

Just one week later i had a phone call from my sister asking me to go over to take her and my mother to hospital my dad has been in over night due to renal retention. he passed away about 15 minutes before we got there  

During and after these experiences i was having takeaways to eat as i didn’t have time to cook i also had drink frequently this all contributed to my massive weight gain i also developed agoraphobia after the funeral and wouldn’t answer my phone for weeks

I have beaten the agoraphobia and now feel like my old self again; however, the weight is still there and i will hopefully now i will lose that too

there is so much more that went on during this time that i am not ready to  put down you have heard the summary of it thats about all i can manage with out falling apart xx