Mum
‘IT FELT LIKE MY LAST CHANCE’
Louise Pople, 64, lives in Westonsuper-Mare with her husband Mike, 73, and daughter Megan, 29.
Stepping onto the scales, I heard the children behind me stifle their giggles as the teacher wrote my weight on a bar chart. I was 10 years old and, weighing 8st, I was at least 2st heavier than the rest of the pupils in my class. This was a moment that would be forever etched in my memory. It was the start of a 50-year battle with my weight.
Growing up, I was always on the big side, and I was always snacking on crisps and sweets. When I married Mike in 1988, I walked down the aisle in a size-22 dress, and while I didn’t feel completely confident, my size was never an issue for him – he loved me just the way I was. But when we began thinking about starting a family, my weight did start to become a problem.
‘In the first six weeks I lost a stone’
After years
