I’ve been overweight for years. I’ve tried dieting loads of times – I tend to lose half a stone pretty easily, then get stuck for a couple of weeks, then get bored and start eating “normally” again and end up putting on 10 pounds – and that’s been the pattern of my dieting life for the last 20 years or so. Before I had kids I was a size 10-12 and my weight and size has just edged up from there to where I am now – I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been and the biggest I’ve ever been. OK, let’s put it out there – I’m 16 stone 10 pounds and a size 20-22. That hurts, it really does (especially it being out there in public now) – but I’m hoping that you’ll be able to help me lose the weight.

I’ve never wanted to be super skinny – I’ve always said if I could get to size 14 I’d be happy. So when I came across Helen Yarnold’s 12-14 fitness plan I was intrigued. Helen believes that most overweight women would be happiest at size 12-14 and she has devised a programme that involves a mixture of healthy eating, exercise and coaching to get you thinking more about what you do with your body in order to change your lifestyle and achieve that happy size 12-14. And when Helen sent out an email looking for volunteers to trial the “remote coaching” programme I was even more intrigued and signed up straight away!

So here we are. Today is day 1. I’ve had a small bowl of muesli and a banana, and have already drunk half a litre of water. I need to buy some peppers for dinner later so will walk to the shops rather than get in the car. And we’ll take it from there, one day at a time. But to keep me going, here are some of the reasons why I really want to get down to a size 14:

I only have to go for a short walk to get hot and sweaty and out of breath. I want to be able to walk everywhere comfortably.

I want to go swimming without looking like a beached whale.

I’ve been having a few problems with my back that I’m sure are due to lugging around too much weight.

I want to be able to shop in the “normal” shops rather than having to rely on New Look’s Inspire section

I want another tattoo but have very few places that aren’t wobbly that it can go!

I want to feel good about myself

I want to be able to look nice instead of covering up in a big cardigan all the time.

I’d quite like to try zumba but couldn’t possibly go at the moment, I’d probably die!

I don’t want to be fat and unfit any more!