Louise's story
Tell us your story, Louise. How has your relationship with food evolved?
“I was never severely overweight. However, I often felt I was a bit overweight. I was often teased about it at school. When I became a mother for the first time at 16, I had gained 35 kg and felt even more uncomfortable. I lost the weight quickly, but then fell victim to the yo-yo effect.”
Louise had her first son at 16. Her daughter followed when she was almost 18, and her second at 19. Shortly after the birth of her second daughter, bulimia gradually crept in, a condition that plagued Louise for two years: “The idea of being able to eat without gaining weight was simply irresistible.”
At some point, however, Louise's eating habits swung to the other extreme: binge eating .
What were your biggest difficulties with eating?
“During the week I was able to control myself well. But on weekends I often overdid it: I'd have a pizza and then something sweet. Then something savory and then something sweet again…”
Although – or perhaps precisely because – Louise strictly controlled herself during the week and forbade herself sweets, she made up for it fivefold on the weekend. The idea that she could "treat herself" on the weekend was used as justification for her binge eating . Weight gain? Only a matter of time.
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When was the moment when it “clicked”?
“What I remember most is something my youngest daughter said shortly before Christmas: we were all dancing wildly together. She said to me: 'Wow, Mom, everything on you is wobbly!' That's when I knew I had to change something.”
