chunky-monkey77
i seriously swear i am up 2 no good !
below is the interview with rebecca weatly ( amy in causalty you would not recognise her )
Anyone who says they're fat and happy is lying, says the Casualty star who lost 12 stone
By Rebecca Wheatley
Walking into the shabby church hall in London's Shepherd's Bush, I felt dozens of eyes on me.
My face was burning with embarrassment as I shuffled towards a chair, praying that nobody would recognise me or talk to me.
As an actress - I spent four years in the BBC drama Casualty before joining talk show Loose Women - I've spent my whole working life in front of an audience.
Rebecca Wheatley was shocked into losing weight after seeing photographs of herself on her wedding day (left). She has since lost 12 stone on the Slimming World programme
Being the centre of attention had never fazed me. But this was different.
It was my first 'appearance' at a slimming class and I felt humiliated. I couldn't look anyone in the eye.
I knew I was fat. That's why I was there. At 5ft 11in and 24st 61/2lbs, I was the largest woman in the room. A dress size 32.
But I'd spent so long kidding myself I loved being large, that admitting the truth to myself - let alone to total strangers - was terribly painful.
The thought of putting myself through the humiliation of a diet club had always been anathema to me.
So walking through that door in May 2005 was one of the hardest things I'd done. It was born out of sheer desperation.
Acting as a voluptuously sexy woman was second nature to me. But I was sick of living a lie.
Casualty's larger-than-life receptionist Amy Howard may have been happy in herself. But Rebecca Wheatley wasn't.
I've battled with my weight for as long as I can remember. It runs in the family.
My mum Anne, a housewife, attended endless slimming classes when I was growing up. And they definitely rubbed off on me.
One day she came home with a papier maché pig which she'd 'won' at her slimming club. It was a booby prize, as she'd gained the most weight that week.
She just laughed, but I was furious. How could these women be so spiteful to my lovely cuddly mum?
Aged ten, I vowed I'd never put myself through the humiliation of being judged by my weight.
I loved eating and as Mum adored cooking, making fantastic casseroles, treacle tarts and cakes, I made the most of her meals.
And no one was going to force me to be slim.
Rebecca (left) played larger-than-life receptionist Amy Howard in Casualty from 1997 to 2001
I'm quite feisty and hate being bossed around. So being the size I wanted was my way of exerting my independence.
I turned myself into the ultimate unapologetic big girl. My line was that I was the 'deluxe model' and it paid off.
From the age of 18, I was never short of boyfriends, although I can now see that I tailored my dreams, deliberately avoiding gorgeous-looking guys I knew were out of my league.
If anything, being so large was great for my career. I filled a niche role - albeit very amply.
When I auditioned for the role of Casualty's Amy Howard in 1997, I was a size 24.
Casting directors were looking for someone flirty, fun and bubbly. As soon as they saw me, they realised I could bring even more to the role. I made the part my own and loved it.
Losing weight never even crossed my mind. I was fat and sexy, just like Amy. Dropping the pounds would have been career suicide.
I love food. I told myself that eating a plateful of cheese with my glass or two of red wine, or having a box of chocolates, was life enhancing.
When I fell in love, there was even less incentive to lose weight.
I met Mahmut in Turkey.
It was the classic Shirley Valentine romance - thirty-something, middle-class British woman falls for sexy, olive-skinned hotel manager.
Despite all my bravado, I was deeply ashamed that I'd let myself get so big
Only this proved to be the real thing. Mahmut - who's seven years younger than me - loved me just the way I was.
We met in 2000 and after endless visits back and forth realised we couldn't bear to be apart. Mahmut applied for permission to live in England.
It was an incredibly fraught time.
Then, in December 2002, I became pregnant. I was thrilled, but having my partner miles away in a different country was tough.
I found the pregnancy difficult. My joints ached from carrying even more weight around. I had problems moving and felt constantly nauseous.
Doctors were worried for me, particularly when they decided I needed to have a Caesarean.
But I'd been so big for so long, trying to lose weight never crossed my mind.
Freddie was born safe and well on September 16, 2003. Eighteen months later, Mahmut finally got permission to live in Britain.
I was ecstatic. And then came the icing on the cake: we got married on April 16, 2005, just nine days before I turned 40.
As I sashayed out of the registry office on the King's Road in London, wearing a couture purple dress, I had never been happier or felt more attractive.
Surrounded by friends, who joined us for a party at the trendy 606 Jazz club in Chelsea, I felt I'd got everything I'd wanted: a baby, a husband, a lovely home and thriving career.
And then came the bombshell. Two weeks after the wedding the photos, taken by a talented French photographer, arrived. I opened the package and the bottom fell out of my world.
The bride was a woman I didn't recognise.
Decked out in a tent-like purple frock, I wasn't the sexy, attractive woman of my imagination. I was gross. And I felt deeply ashamed.
There wasn't a single image in which I looked good. As an actress, I was used to seeing photos of myself. But this was totally different.
This was the real Rebecca on her wedding day. It should have been the happiest day of my life.
But as I looked at those photos, I realised I wasn't truly happy. The one thing standing in the way of my happiness was my size.
Rebecca was named Slimming World's Woman of the Year earlier this month
Despite all my bravado, I was deeply ashamed that I'd let myself get so big. I knew I had to act immediately.
So, in May 2005, I found myself at my first Slimming World class. After my my mother's experience, I'd always vowed I'd never join a club. But I knew I had too big a mountain to climb alone.
Mahmut was supportive. 'I love you whatever size you are. But perhaps now's the time to think about a change,' he said.
Walking into the club on that first night took all my courage. I still tried to kid myself I wasn't really a fat woman looking for help.
But when I lost 81/2lbs in the first week I was spurred on. The next week I lost 4lbs.
I'm very single-minded and I found the Slimming World plan very easy to follow.
Like most women, I'm an emotional eater. I love food and I eat when I'm stressed. But I was eating all the wrong things - cake, chocolate, creamy curries and crisps.
The key is acknowledging my triggers and reaching for healthy food instead. Every day I faced 100 different crossroads as I battled to break the habits of a lifetime.
When I felt stressed, I used to reach for a chocolate bar. And my idea of heaven after a tiring day was unwinding with a bottle of wine and a plate of cheese and biscuits.
Now, I turned to the fruit bowl instead. I drank Diet Coke in place of wine, and swapped cakes for fat-free yoghurts.
I realised that feeling hungry would be the real danger, so I made sure I always had lots of healthy food in the house.
I can't trust myself to have just one chocolate, so I don't have any. If I crave sugar, I eat fruit instead
In the first four months I lost 4st. It was incredible. As I grew in confidence, all my barriers came down. I found myself opening up to the other women in our little group.
The support mechanism was fantastic.
I didn't want to bore Mahmut or my friends with how difficult it was to change the decisions I made about food every day.
But these women understood. We were all in the same boat.
I had people to lean on, shoulders to cry on. Because, believe me, losing weight is a long, tortuous process.
All the years I'd hidden my unhappiness from myself. Now I had to face it. No one gets to 24st by accident.
Two years after joining Slimming World I reached my target weight of 12st - half my original weight.
Now, two years later, I can really celebrate, as I've kept it all off.
I still have the same demons. I still have to be careful. I know that, if I have a glass of red wine, I'll be tempted to eat a plate of cheese with it, so I have a gin and slimline tonic instead.
I can't trust myself to have just one chocolate, so I don't have any. If I crave sugar, I eat fruit instead.
Planning is essential. I always make sure I've got plenty of healthy food to hand such as fat-free yoghurts and fruit.
Freddie is too young to notice the difference. I'm just his mummy. But I'm thrilled he'll never be embarrassed by my size.
I thought nothing of appearing on TV or stage with stars such as Paul O'Grady and mocking my weight.
But I lived in dread of the moment I turned up at the school gates and my boy looked ashamed.
But, best of all, I have a real inner confidence that I was just feigning before.
Because I'm happier, Mahmut is happier. It's a cliché, but I'm easier to love now, as I feel more loveable.
Anyone who says they're fat and happy is lying, says the Casualty star who lost 12 stone
By Rebecca Wheatley
Walking into the shabby church hall in London's Shepherd's Bush, I felt dozens of eyes on me.
My face was burning with embarrassment as I shuffled towards a chair, praying that nobody would recognise me or talk to me.
As an actress - I spent four years in the BBC drama Casualty before joining talk show Loose Women - I've spent my whole working life in front of an audience.
Rebecca Wheatley was shocked into losing weight after seeing photographs of herself on her wedding day (left). She has since lost 12 stone on the Slimming World programme
Being the centre of attention had never fazed me. But this was different.
It was my first 'appearance' at a slimming class and I felt humiliated. I couldn't look anyone in the eye.
I knew I was fat. That's why I was there. At 5ft 11in and 24st 61/2lbs, I was the largest woman in the room. A dress size 32.
But I'd spent so long kidding myself I loved being large, that admitting the truth to myself - let alone to total strangers - was terribly painful.
The thought of putting myself through the humiliation of a diet club had always been anathema to me.
So walking through that door in May 2005 was one of the hardest things I'd done. It was born out of sheer desperation.
Acting as a voluptuously sexy woman was second nature to me. But I was sick of living a lie.
Casualty's larger-than-life receptionist Amy Howard may have been happy in herself. But Rebecca Wheatley wasn't.
I've battled with my weight for as long as I can remember. It runs in the family.
My mum Anne, a housewife, attended endless slimming classes when I was growing up. And they definitely rubbed off on me.
One day she came home with a papier maché pig which she'd 'won' at her slimming club. It was a booby prize, as she'd gained the most weight that week.
She just laughed, but I was furious. How could these women be so spiteful to my lovely cuddly mum?
Aged ten, I vowed I'd never put myself through the humiliation of being judged by my weight.
I loved eating and as Mum adored cooking, making fantastic casseroles, treacle tarts and cakes, I made the most of her meals.
And no one was going to force me to be slim.
Rebecca (left) played larger-than-life receptionist Amy Howard in Casualty from 1997 to 2001
I'm quite feisty and hate being bossed around. So being the size I wanted was my way of exerting my independence.
I turned myself into the ultimate unapologetic big girl. My line was that I was the 'deluxe model' and it paid off.
From the age of 18, I was never short of boyfriends, although I can now see that I tailored my dreams, deliberately avoiding gorgeous-looking guys I knew were out of my league.
If anything, being so large was great for my career. I filled a niche role - albeit very amply.
When I auditioned for the role of Casualty's Amy Howard in 1997, I was a size 24.
Casting directors were looking for someone flirty, fun and bubbly. As soon as they saw me, they realised I could bring even more to the role. I made the part my own and loved it.
Losing weight never even crossed my mind. I was fat and sexy, just like Amy. Dropping the pounds would have been career suicide.
I love food. I told myself that eating a plateful of cheese with my glass or two of red wine, or having a box of chocolates, was life enhancing.
When I fell in love, there was even less incentive to lose weight.
I met Mahmut in Turkey.
It was the classic Shirley Valentine romance - thirty-something, middle-class British woman falls for sexy, olive-skinned hotel manager.
Despite all my bravado, I was deeply ashamed that I'd let myself get so big
Only this proved to be the real thing. Mahmut - who's seven years younger than me - loved me just the way I was.
We met in 2000 and after endless visits back and forth realised we couldn't bear to be apart. Mahmut applied for permission to live in England.
It was an incredibly fraught time.
Then, in December 2002, I became pregnant. I was thrilled, but having my partner miles away in a different country was tough.
I found the pregnancy difficult. My joints ached from carrying even more weight around. I had problems moving and felt constantly nauseous.
Doctors were worried for me, particularly when they decided I needed to have a Caesarean.
But I'd been so big for so long, trying to lose weight never crossed my mind.
Freddie was born safe and well on September 16, 2003. Eighteen months later, Mahmut finally got permission to live in Britain.
I was ecstatic. And then came the icing on the cake: we got married on April 16, 2005, just nine days before I turned 40.
As I sashayed out of the registry office on the King's Road in London, wearing a couture purple dress, I had never been happier or felt more attractive.
Surrounded by friends, who joined us for a party at the trendy 606 Jazz club in Chelsea, I felt I'd got everything I'd wanted: a baby, a husband, a lovely home and thriving career.
And then came the bombshell. Two weeks after the wedding the photos, taken by a talented French photographer, arrived. I opened the package and the bottom fell out of my world.
The bride was a woman I didn't recognise.
Decked out in a tent-like purple frock, I wasn't the sexy, attractive woman of my imagination. I was gross. And I felt deeply ashamed.
There wasn't a single image in which I looked good. As an actress, I was used to seeing photos of myself. But this was totally different.
This was the real Rebecca on her wedding day. It should have been the happiest day of my life.
But as I looked at those photos, I realised I wasn't truly happy. The one thing standing in the way of my happiness was my size.
Despite all my bravado, I was deeply ashamed that I'd let myself get so big. I knew I had to act immediately.
So, in May 2005, I found myself at my first Slimming World class. After my my mother's experience, I'd always vowed I'd never join a club. But I knew I had too big a mountain to climb alone.
Mahmut was supportive. 'I love you whatever size you are. But perhaps now's the time to think about a change,' he said.
Walking into the club on that first night took all my courage. I still tried to kid myself I wasn't really a fat woman looking for help.
But when I lost 81/2lbs in the first week I was spurred on. The next week I lost 4lbs.
I'm very single-minded and I found the Slimming World plan very easy to follow.
Like most women, I'm an emotional eater. I love food and I eat when I'm stressed. But I was eating all the wrong things - cake, chocolate, creamy curries and crisps.
The key is acknowledging my triggers and reaching for healthy food instead. Every day I faced 100 different crossroads as I battled to break the habits of a lifetime.
When I felt stressed, I used to reach for a chocolate bar. And my idea of heaven after a tiring day was unwinding with a bottle of wine and a plate of cheese and biscuits.
Now, I turned to the fruit bowl instead. I drank Diet Coke in place of wine, and swapped cakes for fat-free yoghurts.
I realised that feeling hungry would be the real danger, so I made sure I always had lots of healthy food in the house.
I can't trust myself to have just one chocolate, so I don't have any. If I crave sugar, I eat fruit instead
In the first four months I lost 4st. It was incredible. As I grew in confidence, all my barriers came down. I found myself opening up to the other women in our little group.
The support mechanism was fantastic.
I didn't want to bore Mahmut or my friends with how difficult it was to change the decisions I made about food every day.
But these women understood. We were all in the same boat.
I had people to lean on, shoulders to cry on. Because, believe me, losing weight is a long, tortuous process.
All the years I'd hidden my unhappiness from myself. Now I had to face it. No one gets to 24st by accident.
Two years after joining Slimming World I reached my target weight of 12st - half my original weight.
Now, two years later, I can really celebrate, as I've kept it all off.
I still have the same demons. I still have to be careful. I know that, if I have a glass of red wine, I'll be tempted to eat a plate of cheese with it, so I have a gin and slimline tonic instead.
I can't trust myself to have just one chocolate, so I don't have any. If I crave sugar, I eat fruit instead.
Planning is essential. I always make sure I've got plenty of healthy food to hand such as fat-free yoghurts and fruit.
Freddie is too young to notice the difference. I'm just his mummy. But I'm thrilled he'll never be embarrassed by my size.
I thought nothing of appearing on TV or stage with stars such as Paul O'Grady and mocking my weight.
But I lived in dread of the moment I turned up at the school gates and my boy looked ashamed.
But, best of all, I have a real inner confidence that I was just feigning before.
Because I'm happier, Mahmut is happier. It's a cliché, but I'm easier to love now, as I feel more loveable.
