Amy Anderson, 32, was horrified when she realised she had gained four stone after the birth of her second child.
“When I stepped on the scales I cried. I couldn’t believe what had happened to me. What was worse was that my husband had just bought me a new wetsuit so that I could learn to surf and I ripped it in half trying to squeeze into it on the beach. I have never been so humiliated in my life.”
Amy sat on the beach in her t-shirts and baggy shorts watching her husband and children playing in the waves.
“I used to love the sea. We had moved to the coast just to be near the beach. But I began to dread visits to the seaside. I was surrounded by slim young girls in skimpy suits while I sat there feeling like a beached wale.
The following year Amy’s husband booked them a dream summer holiday in the Canary Islands.
“He was so pleased when he came home with the tickets and the pictures of our gorgeous hotel. But all I could see was a huge swimming pool and lots of bronzed slim bodies round it. My heart sank. But after a sleepless night wondering how I could pull out of the holiday I decided I could not go on like this. But I was a health journalist and so I knew more than most that many so called ‘miracle’ diets just don’t work.
“I was already motivated to start exercising but all the diets I read about seemed such hard work. I am a working mother with two toddlers, I barely have enough hours in a day as it is without seeking out new ingredients and cooking special meals for myself.
“Then I read an article on Phase 2. The science behind it was convincing and it seemed ideal for me because it was easy and natural. I would never take any drugs to loose weight, they are too dangerous. And I knew cutting down on carbs was the best way to lose weight.
“Six months after starting Phase 2 and swimming three times a week, I had lost two stone. I lost a further two stone over the next four months. By the time we left for our holiday I had lost almost four stone and had gone from a size 18 to a size 10. I wore a bikini on holiday for the first time since my early 20’s. I have never felt happier and more confident as I do now and I put a lot of it down to Phase 2. My husband says I look better now than I did when he married me.”
Last updated: 02 June 2006
Return to Magazine front page
GI Support Patch
