Losing weight: Food addict shares recovery to help others

Sarah Jane Clark before and after losing 12 stone

A woman who lost more than half her body weight after struggling with food addiction has said her size was damaging her physical health.

Sarah Jane Clark, from Swindon, decided to transform her health and fitness after reaching 21 stone (133kg) and being unable to walk upstairs.

She lost 12 stone (76kg) and is now sharing her story to inspire others struggling with the condition.

"It's been a painful journey and I've been really raw," she said.

Ms Clark has now met Robert Buckland, Conservative MP for South Swindon, to discuss the town's obesity problem.

Speaking to BBC Wiltshire, she said: "People don't realise that food addiction is just like any other addiction, but it's not recognised.

"My weight was having a really negative impact on my physical health. I was constantly in pain; I was borderline diabetic."

Sarah Jane Clark, (fourth from left), said she used to isolate herself and rarely attended social events

She added: "I used to eat a lot on my own, large volumes of very, very sweet food.

"I isolated myself so much due to my food addiction and now that I've taken the power back from that food, I have a much more healthy life in every area.

"So I've kind of healed myself holistically."

Sarah Jane Clark started exercising to help lose weight and said the healthier she became, the healthier she wanted to be

Ms Clark's experience has motivated her to offer advice to anyone else wanting to recover from addiction to food.

With 67% of Swindon residents classified as obese, she aims to highlight, with the help of the local MP, what support is available.

Mr Buckland MP said: "Swindon's high obesity rate is concerning and it is an issue that I have discussed with the Public Health Team at Swindon Borough Council.

"Recent examples of work include working with takeaways to increase healthier options, promoting active travel through digital signs, improving the provision of play areas and open green space, distributing slow cookers and recipe books and helping schools to make their lunch box and tuck shop policies healthier."

Sarah Jane Clark lost more than half her body weight whilst recovering from food addiction

Ms Clark, who offers free advice on exercise and nutrition, added: "We'd all like to be the healthiest version of ourselves.

"The thing not to do is anything extreme. I started just by walking and drinking water and those two basic steps started my journey and were sustainable.

"Through my own experience, when I started eating real food like I did when I was growing up, such as meat, potatoes and vegetables, cooked from scratch, all of a sudden I was full and eating a lot less.

"The healthier I became, the healthier I wanted to be. I'm much happier now," she added.