I have always struggled with my weight. After the birth of my daughter, I lost a massive amount of weight and got down to a size 10-12. It took 2 years and it was a daily struggle. I was always hungry, exercising every day. I felt absolutely exhausted all the time. I hated going out for meals as I knew it would be hard to stick to my diet and it would set me back. It consumed my life. And then I went back to work full time with three kids under six, I didn’t have time to exercise and started putting the weight back on. My mindset was I’m not exercising so I’m going to put on weight. If I’m going to put on weight I might as well eat what I like.

So, I ate. When I was hungry. When I was bored. When I was upset or stressed or angry. And I put all the weight back on and then some. I knew I needed to lose weight and I wanted to. But my experience with losing all the weight previously meant I dreaded going back to that all-consuming weight loss where every kilo lost was a hard fought battle.
I really can’t believe how easy it has been so far. It’s like Caroline flicked a magic switch in my head. I no longer eat my emotions. I no longer overeat. I eat when I am hungry. I eat three meals a day and I don’t snack.

What is absolutely amazing is that I eat probably a quarter of what I used to, and I am not hungry in-between meals. I haven’t significantly changed the food I am eating at mealtimes. The biggest change has probably been lunch. It wasn’t what I was eating but the quantity. 
I have also stopped eating chocolate. This was my emotional eating habit. I would be stressed, upset, bored et cetera and I could easily eat at least half a block in a sitting. Since July I can count the number of times I have eaten chocolate on one hand. And rather than eating half a block I ate one row.

This isn’t to say I have not had what we consider “treat” food. I went on a family holiday and had ice-cream (but I had a kiddy serve not a double scoop and I didn’t finish all the kiddy serve!), and desserts and takeaways and ate out most nights. If we go to the movies and I feel like popcorn or ice cream I have it. If I bake I will have some.

But I am happy having a small amount of ice cream or chocolate or whatever it is. And if I am not enjoying the food or I’m full I don’t finish eating what is in front of me. I still enjoy takeaways at least one night a week but am satisfied with much smaller portions. I also eat our regularly for lunch and dinner with family and friends.