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Jennie isn't half the woman she once was
JENNIE Clarke lost an incredible 12 stone in under a year thanks to the Cambridge Diet. Here, she tells features editor Joni Ager how she shed the weight.
THIS time last year Jennie Clarke weighed 23st 5lbs and was a size 32.
When a doctor's appointment to discuss her snoring revealed a medical condition that placed her at risk of stroke and heart attack, she made a life-changing decision.
She had been overweight since she was a child and had tried all sorts of fad diets but she decided to give herself a year to shed the excess weight and get down to a healthy size.
She started the Cambridge Diet, a weight loss programme which focuses on eliminating carbohydrates and fats from your diet and replacing them with nutritionally balanced food substitutes.
Now, 12 months on, she has achieved a life-long ambition of doing a sky dive, something she had always been too heavy to do before.
Here, she talks us through her weight loss diary.
October, 2006
Weight - 23st 5lbs
I used to snore really badly and I went to a sleep clinic where I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea. I was told it triples my risk of stroke and heart attack. My father died at the age of 50 from a heart attack and he was morbidly obese but he ignored all the medical advice.
The thing that made me decide to lose the weight was when the hospital told me I needed to wear a mask at night to help me breathe. I was a single woman and I didn't want to wear a mask – how would I explain that to a potential partner?
Then I went on holiday with my mum. We went on a cruise on the QE2 and it should have been the holiday of a lifetime.
I did have a superb time but the QE2 is a phenomenally beautiful, romantic ship and a perfect place for couples. I was surrounded by glamorous, lovely women while I was cramming myself into a size 32. I had never felt so unattractive.
I would walk around the decks late at night on my own when everything had closed and something just clicked. I decided to dedicate a year of my life to losing weight and extending my life expectancy so I could see my daughters grow up and have their own children.
Month one - November
Weight - 20st 12lbs
I've tried to lose weight all sorts of ways before - WeightWatchers, Slimming World, diet tablets. I even tried an obesity clinic at the hospital. I don't think I was ready mentally but now I was highly motivated.
I removed all temptation from the house. I went through the cupboards and got rid of everything I was not going to be able to eat on the diet.
The first week was the toughest because my body was adjusting. Your body goes into a state of ketosis which basically means your body gets rid of fat.
The beginning few days were really tough. On the second and third day I thought I was dying, I was so sick. It was due to the carbohydrate withdrawal and it felt like coming off alcohol or cigarettes.
But once I got through the first four days I felt great. My body was having what it needed rather than what it wanted.
Month two - December
Weight - 19st 5lbs
In the fifth week I was allowed a small amount of food in the evenings. I would have a couple of spoonfuls of green vegetables and a small portion of protein, maybe white fish, chicken or Quorn. It was very small quantities but I really appreciated it.
Then it was back to the food replacements. You can use them to make soups, shakes, mousse, porridge and even muffins. I used to love the chocolate mint muffin.
It was my birthday in November but I didn't break the diet. I wanted to lose weight more than I wanted to eat.
I went out for a meal with my friends but I didn't eat. Instead I asked the restaurant if I could bring my own drink. I became a food sniffer and that would satisfy my craving.
Month three - January
Weight - 18st 9lbs
I lost weight over Christmas and New Year. I bought chocolates for everyone like I usually did but I didn't have any.
I made a full Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for my family, and I had some turkey and vegetables and one of my muffins.
Temptation is everywhere for someone like me who loves food but I struggled so much in the first few days of the diet and I didn't want to have to do that again.
Month four - February
Weight - 17st
By now all of my clothes were huge and baggy. I was still wearing all my old stuff but I was getting a lot of hand-me-downs from people I had met on the weight loss support forum. We would meet up socially and take clothes with us to give to each other.
I didn't want to buy new clothes yet because I wanted to lose more weight. But I did buy my first piece of red clothing, a colour I'd never have worn before.
I had got down to a size 24 to 26 from a 32 and I was feeling loads better about myself.
Month five - March
Weight - 16st 2lbs
By now I was exercising. I got an exercise prescription from my GP and I joined the gym at the Nene Centre in Thrapston.
I started out just doing very basic things like the treadmill and the rowing machine with a lot of toning and weights.
I thought I would feel really uncomfortable but the gym wasn't full of Lycra-clad posers. Everyone seemed to have respect for people who wanted to lose weight.
I had my follow-up appointment at the sleep clinic. The doctor said to me "I have to tell you, you have cured yourself. I don't want to see you anymore." I literally floated out of there.
I could have stopped the diet then because I had cured my problem but that was not my objective. Now I had a target weight – 10st 10lbs.
Month six - April
Weight - 14st 8lbs
I was still doing four weeks of no food and one week of a little food.
My only slip up was some pickled onions. I wanted to eat something so badly so I had three pickled onions but I felt really bad afterwards.
Some days it really was very tough. I did some baking for a church event and the house was full of the smell of cakes but I still didn't have any.
That month I took my mum out for dinner for her birthday.
She and my sister got there before me and had their starter and I arrived for the main course.
I had already rung the restaurant and asked if I could bring my soup with me and they were fine about it.
Month seven - May
Weight - 13st 9lbs
I was now looking vastly different. I was buying loads more clothes and I had started to like shopping for the first time. I felt good.
George in Asda became a reality for me because before I was always too big for their clothes.
Month eight - June
Weight - 13st 3lbs
I organise the Raunds Music Festival and there were guys there who hadn't seen me for 12 months and their reactions were superb. They were so pleased for me.
I was seeing someone and though it didn't work out I was on a real high that weekend. People kept saying to me: "Are you really the lady who was selling the tickets last year?" In fact, some people were worried that I was poorly because I had lost so much weight.
Month nine - July
Weight - 12st 9lbs
I went on holiday to Tobago for three weeks with my sister.
I took a photo of myself on the plane because it was the first time I had ever been able to put the lap tray down. Before going on an aeroplane was a nightmare for me, I couldn't even fit in the toilet so I would just stay in my seat the whole time. It was agony. This time, I couldn't stop walking around.
I took all my food supplements with me but I did have a spoonful of all these different Caribbean foods, like curried mango and barbecued barracuda, just to get the taste.
I swam in the sea every day and I even went scuba diving. I wore a wet suit for the first time in my life.
Scuba diving was something I never thought I would be able to do but it was amazing.
Month 10 - August
Weight - 11st 12lbs
I had reached a size 14 and I was so happy. I have never been a 14 and it was always the size I wanted to reach. I wore skirts and I never would have before. It meant I could get my legs brown in the sun!
I was wearing strappy tops and shorts and I was loving it.
Month 11 - September
Weight - 11st 4lbs
I had decided I wanted to get to 11st 4lbs which would be a 12st weight loss. I had always had scales in the house but I kept them under my daughter's bed.
As soon as I knew I was nearing my weight loss goal I was jumping on the scales every morning but it was doing my head in so I had to stop myself. It's not a healthy thing to do because your body fluctuates by as much as 4lbs a day.
When I finally reached my goal weight I just screamed. I was with my Cambridge Diet counsellor and we were hugging and jumping around. It was amazing.
Then I moved on to the maintenance stage of the programme where you are on 790 calories a day. I loved it because I was having breakfast every day. After that you move on to 1,000 calories a day and finally 1,500 calories. It's all about adjusting into healthy eating patterns.
October, 2007
Weight - 10st 11lbs
On Saturday I did a tandem sky dive. It was something I had always wanted to do but you have to weigh under 15st.
On the day of the jump I never had any doubts it was going to happen because of the weather or anything. I wasn't scared at all. Even in the plane I was just grinning the whole time.
After we pulled the chute and were floating down, I said to Stuart, the guy I was strapped to: "You have no idea how major an event this is for me." When I told him how I'd lost 12-and-a-half stone in the last year he was amazed.
I loved every minute of the jump and I'd love to do it again. Losing the weight has made such a difference. I'm the same person inside but on the outside I'm completely different.
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