SENNA-MICHELLE Juchau, 31, is a senior contract manager and lives in Surrey with her husband David, a senior security engineer, 35, and kids Emelia, seven, and Isla, three. Walking down the aisle in my beautiful size-10 gown, I was so excited to marry my groom. My daughters told me I looked like a princess , and relatives I hadn’t seen for years said that if I hadn’t been wearing the wedding dress, they wouldn’t have had a clue who I was – because I was completely unrecognisable.
I laughed, but thought about the journey I’d been through to lose 8st – going from a depressed size 22, weighing 17st 8lb, to a happy size 10, weighing 9st 7lb. I was bullied for my size throughout my childhood. At age 11, I was only wearing a size 10, but this was bigger than my friends.
As time went on, my size increased. I tried countless diets , but none worked. In 2015, I fell pregnant with my first child, Emelia.
I craved fruit juice and cheese and put on 4st, taking me to 17st 8lb, which at 5ft 2in made me a size 22. I developed postnatal depression and began seeking comfort in food. I couldn’t drive past a McDonald’s without going in and I ate takeaway pizza and curries for dinner, washed down with fizzy drinks.
I couldn’t lose my pregnancy weight, and I barely went out, hating what I’d become and feeling unable to give Emelia the childhood she deserved. In September 2017, I’d had enough and forced myself to start going to the gym and calorie counting. Six months later, .
