Getting life back on track

‘Now I look and feel the part’

Gaynelle Samuel, 60, lives in London.

Smoothing down my smart, tailored dress, I walked through the airport, full of excitement. As an international trade union officer, overseas conferences were all part of the job. But only a couple of years earlier, I’d felt quite differently about flying off to mix with high-level delegates.

For most of my adult life, I’d been a size 14, then when I was 38, doctors discovered a polyp in my nose. Thankfully, it turned out to be benign, but as I was recovering from the surgery to remove it, I used food to help make myself feel better. As I gradually went up the dress