I noticed when I reached my mid twenties that everything seemed to go a bit soft and spongy.

The fat creeps up on you - only making its presence known when you go to put on your favourite trousers from last Summer, to find that the waistband wedges halfway up your thighs and defiantly refuses to budge.


Anyway, I’ll get to the point...

Mr Webmonkey and I are getting married in August.

The venue is booked, catering is taken care of, and the legal stuff is sorted. I've even ordered my dress (and the bridesmaids' dresses). I only tried on two dresses; both fitted perfectly and looked great, but I was still conscious of those extra couple of inches around the middle that I'm sure never used to be there.

I've always been average – but when I was 11 I shot up to 11 stone in a few months (blame puberty) – and being a fraction under 5 feet tall it was impossible to disguise. In a few years I was ecstatic when I managed to slim down and get my first pair of rigid jeans (in a size 14). A couple of years later it was 12, then 10. The funny thing about losing weight is that with every size you drop, you will look at your old clothes in disgust and disbelief that you were ever that big, though at the time you felt amazingly skinny and confident. On the way back up, it's even harder.

Size 14: "Wow, I'm a size 14! I'm so skinny!"

Size 8: "Urgh, look how massive these size 14 trousers are – how did I ever wear them?"

Size 10: (wail, sob) "I'm so fat!"


Recently I went from being a large 8/small 10 to being a large 10. So, I was standing there in the bridal shop wearing a beautiful perfectly-fitting size 10 wedding dress, and all I could think was "yeah, but I used to be an 8..."

And so it begins...