Life-Changer winner, Pat Price, had no idea she was pregnant with her third child until she unexpectedly gave birth on the toilet at work.
“I hadn’t got a clue. I’d got fatter over the years and just thought I’d put on more weight,” said Pat, from Telford, Shropshire.
“I did tell my daughter she was lucky I didn’t call her Louise, but it is her middle name.”
Ironically, it wasn’t the first unexpected pregnancy in Pat’s family. She herself was born in the cinema when her mum went into labour in the middle of – would you believe it – Gone With The Wind.
“Cinema tickets cost a lot in those days and the story goes that my mum wasn’t going to leave the pictures so gave birth to me and got to see the end of the movie!”
Now 66, Pat had a lifelong battle with weight until she lost four stone on The 1:1 Diet and was crowned our Life-Changer winner.
“Being born Pat Rollinson, I was Fatty Patty or Roly Poly. The name calling was so upsetting that, even as a child, I wanted to change my name but, as a family tradition, I wasn’t allowed, even though my brother had!”
Pat met her first husband when she was only 15 and they married in 1974 when she was 18 and weighed 10 stone four pounds.
“He was tiny but he never complained about my weight. I spent years worrying about his health as he had diabetes and epilepsy. Comfort eating got
me through those times,” she recalled.
“We had our first child when I was 22 and weighed 14 stone, our second when I was 25, weighing 15 stone. And then I remember being asked when my next was due, even when I wasn’t pregnant.”
The biggest shock was Pat’s third and final pregnancy.
“I was so large that no-one could even tell I was pregnant, not even me! I didn’t know until I gave birth at work, sat on the toilet!”
Pat’s weight continued to pile on after her first husband passed away when their youngest child was only 10.
“I felt very lonely, even with the support of others. Initially, I lost four stone being so ill but over time that weight went back on.”
When Pat met her second husband, Ron, in 2009 the relationship nearly stopped before it started.
“He did say I was a bit large for him . . . I was 15 stone. I nearly dumped him
for it there and then! But I stayed with him, lost a bit of weight and we got married in 2012 when I was a size 16.”
After the wedding, Pat’s weight kept creeping up causing her more misery, depression and worsening self-confidence.
“I wouldn’t go swimming or go for walks as my legs chaffed and were so sore they bled. I was always sweaty, so didn’t want to do anything at all to make it worse. I avoided many family days out as I always felt a failure and a disgrace. “On the occasions I did go, I felt humiliated. I’ll never forget a day out with my family to Blackpool. I got stuck in a turnstile and had to get off a rollercoaster because the bar wouldn’t lock down.”
She was nicknamed the fat nanny with yellow teeth and white hair by her eight grandchildren.
“They thought it was funny and I just laughed it off, but it really hurt inside,” she confessed. “That’s when I decided to change. It was my life and up to me to sort it rather than feeling sorry for myself.”
Pat turned to The 1:1 Diet and her Consultant, Hayley White and went on Plan, following Step 3.
“I got on Plan, Step 3, and I’ve gone from a size 18-20 to a 10-12 and have lost four stone. It’s the first time I can ever remember being a size 12 and sometimes a 10!
“Before losing weight, I rarely ate a proper meal. I’d live off chocolate, chips, cake, crisps, biscuits, takeaways, ice cream, bags of sweets and as many as six chocolate bars a day.
“Now I can go out and still keep to Plan.”
Pat has a new lease of life and is embracing being able to wear a skirt for the first time since her wedding day.
“I’m happy with my weight, white hair and I’ve now got the confidence to also do something about my teeth!
“My only regret? Not doing it sooner.”