I went from size 28 to a size 8 and this is how I did it

Sarah-Jane Clark, 52, a lifestyle coach, lives with her fiancé, Paul, 52, a senior facilities manager, in Swindon. Sarah-Jane has two children, Chloe, 26 and Jack, 25, from a previous marriage. Here she shares how she went from a size 28 to a size eight, through changing her eating habits and taking up running, HIIT sessions and gym work-outs.

Standing on the scales in my mother’s kitchen, my cheeks were burning with shame. I was 14 years old and had begged my mum to let me start on yet another new diet, this time one where you only drank three milkshakes a day.

I had stuck to it religiously for a week, desperate to lose my developing curves. I had been starving throughout but I hated my body so much and wanted to be like all my skinny school friends, even though I was only a few pounds heavier than any normal teenager.

The woman from the diet club looked at me, disappointed. "You’ve only lost four pounds, we would expect far more than that in the first week," she said. I gulped, so embarrassed.

That night I went into my bedroom and did what I always did when I felt low, I binge ate. Biscuits, sweets, cake, toast with jam, anything I could get my hands on, I aggressively crammed it into my mouth as if I was beating myself up with food. It wasn’t eating for comfort or taste, it was eating to sabotage and harm myself.

Food guilt

In the past, I’d tried vomiting after a binge to purge the calories from my body but I hated the sensation of being sick so I just ate and ate. Then I felt 'hungover' and guilty the next morning. I was in the grip of a food addiction cycle that haunted my life for many years.

My weight problems had started around the age of 11 when I started my periods. I didn’t like this new womanly body and wanted to be thin, like other girls. I joined one dieting club when I was 13 with my mum but it was doomed to fail. In my view, there is nothing worse for someone’s self-esteem than standing on a weighing scale in front of a room of other people and being told that you’ve put on a pound.

After that, I joined the 'milkshake' diet club and felt faint with hunger most days. I only stuck at it for a month or so. Despite my lack of self-worth, I did have a boyfriend at 14, who was two years older, and he was the man I went on to marry at 23. But it was not a good relationship. I was so grateful that someone – anyone – would be my partner that I allowed him to treat me with such disrespect. My binge-eating went out of control.

A wake-up call

But at 24 something happened that changed my life. My periods stopped and I went to the GP. The doctor asked me to get on the scales – something I never did at home – and I was horrified by the result. I weighed 21st 10lbs (133kg) and I was a size 28.

Tears pricked my eyes, I couldn’t make eye contact with the doctor. But rather than give me any sympathy, the doctor told me off, telling me I’d be dead by the time I was 40 if I didn’t stop eating. I left the GP feeling the lowest I’ve ever felt. But something else also happened that day. As I made my way home, I realised that I didn’t want to be 'thin' anymore. I didn’t want to look like everyone else. I wanted to be healthy.

That night, at 9pm and under the cover of darkness, I went out for a half hour walk. It was – literally – the first step to my journey in losing this weight. I repeated it every night at 9pm for the next two weeks and within that time, I realised that I no longer felt breathless walking up my stairs.

Taking action

So I put in another change. Rather than drinking fizzy full fat Coke and sugary coffee, I decided that I would only drink water or sugarless coffee. Again, within about 10 days my head was clearer and I was feeling better. Another change came along, this time swapping my processed meals for freshly cooked meals such as jacket potatoes. None of these steps were ever 'a diet' and I didn’t weigh myself. I simply wanted to feel ‘better’.

I gave birth to Chloe when I was 26 and the doctor weighed me after that and I was down to 18 stone. Nearly two years later, I gave birth to Jack and my weight had gone down again to 15 stone, purely by following the changes I’d put into place.

Six months after Jack’s birth, I found the confidence to leave my husband and that’s when I joined a gym for the first time. I was so terrified when I walked through the doors that I was shaking from head to toe but I made myself do it and I now realise that no one else cares what you are doing in the gym, they’re too focused on their own bodies.

I was single for five years before getting into another relationship with a lovely man, who was a great step-father to my children, but looking back, it still wasn’t completely right for me. The catalyst to ending it was losing my beloved sister Ceri, at the age of 40, to pancreatic cancer. It was during lockdown that I received a phone call from my other sister Cathy to simply say, "She’s gone" and I was devastated. Yet my husband at the time went into work and left me in the house on my own with my grief.

I knew then that I had to leave that relationship. I needed a partner I could lean on and who would hold me when I needed him. I was going to be 50 soon and life was short.

My new body

I reached my lowest weight of 9st 6lbs in 2020 and fitted into my first pair of size eight jeans. I remember putting them on and feeling a sensation of complete disbelief. Apparently that’s a common feeling for people who have been overweight for so long and it took my mind some time to realise that I was actually that slim.

My weight goes up slightly and I fluctuate between a size 8-10 now but I’m so much happier and healthier and more in control. I feel more confident, have more energy and a clearer mind. Losing weight has made me feel so much more empowered, as if there’s nothing I can’t do.

I met Paul three years ago through our love of running, which I took up at the age of 40 to challenge myself. We got to know each other through virtual running events in lockdown but then we met in person to do a half-marathon together and from the moment we met, I felt like I’d come home. We have the same interests and hobbies, he does all my batch cooking for me – he’s a trained chef – and we’re going to be married in September. It’s the first time in any of my relationships where I’ve felt I can be the 'complete' me.

Inspiring others

My lifestyle coaching on social media came about because of an old school friend who told me that my Facebook updates were inspiring her to work out more. I was so flattered but really didn’t think anyone would want to listen to me. But I started building up a following on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram and now share tips not on how to lose weight, but on how to feel healthier and better. I love helping women achieve what I’ve achieved. It’s like watching a light go on inside them.

I still say I have a food addiction even though I’m now a size 8-10 and work out regularly with running, the gym and HIIT classes. Because it’s something I’ll have for life. You’d never say to an alcoholic: "Oh just have one glass of wine" and that’s what food addiction is like for me. I know that if I’m not careful about what I eat every day – even on holiday – then I’ll fall off the wagon.

That’s not to say I can’t eat treats or fatty foods. I can and I do. But the key to all this is not losing weight, it’s about liking yourself more. I wish more people knew that it’s not about having lots of milkshakes instead of meals and weighing yourself every day. It’s about eating good, nutrient-rich food, making small changes in your normal life and building up good habits. It’s what I’ve been doing for years and honestly, I’ve never felt happier.

Step By Step With Sarah Jane can be found on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube