“I can't lose weight round my middle”

Have you found that your dress size has crept up? Patsy Westcott goes in search of her lost waistline

Before: Height: 5ft 5in; Weight: 74.5kg (11st 7lb); Measurements: 39-35-42
Dress size: 16

After: Height: 5ft 5in; Weight: 68kg (10st 7lb) Measurements: 37-31-38;
Dress size: 12 to 14

I couldn't fail to notice the slow expansion of my waist after I hit 50. But I reassured myself that it was just my age – my friends admitted to fighting a similar battle – and anyway, wasn't it time to forego body fascism? So I just kept upping my dress size and told myself that I was curvy.
Then one day, the sneaking suspicion that my curves were less Nigella and more Two Fat Ladies was confirmed. In response to a grouch about the “muffin top” over my waistband, an honest – and brave – friend conceded, “Well, you do have a bit of a tummy”. Ouch! The truth hit even harder when I measured my vital statistics: 39-35-42 and 11½ stone – a stone heavier than when I was nine months pregnant with my now grown-up daughter. The scales didn't just tip, they fell from my eyes. I wanted my waistline back.
Marilyn Glenville is a nutritional therapist whose book Fat Around The Middle enticingly promises to change your body shape permanently within three months. I booked an appointment.
Marilyn said regaining my waistline was vital for my health. Although doctors don't know why, a high level of central body fat with a waist of 35in or more is dangerous even if, like me, you're not much over your ideal weight. My level of visceral fat, as it's called, upped my risk of heart disease, diabetes and breast cancer.
If my scales had made me pause, they were nothing compared to the cold, hard calculations of Marilyn's Body Composition Monitor. At 25.3, my Body Mass Index, which measures weight relative to height, was not too bad – a healthy BMI is 20 to 25. But with a fat percentage of 37.4 (it should be 21 to 28) I was, according to the printout, obese. Worse still, the monitor measured my metabolic age, which was 58 – two years older than I actually am.
Fat cells produce oestrogen, which is why, like many menopausal women, I'd piled on pounds as my body tried to compensate for diminishing levels of that hormone. At the same time your metabolism – the rate at which your body burns energy – slows, making it harder to shed weight.
The other factor is stress. High levels of the stress hormone cortisol block insulin, which normally sweeps excess blood sugar from the bloodstream, causing it to be stored as fat – a perfect recipe for the dumpling-like tyres that were once my waspish waist. It was time for action.
To start, Marilyn outlined an eating plan; not so much a diet, she said, as a set of rules to apply. She also told me to think about following the plan for a month to begin with, which helped strengthen my resolve. Next, we talked about exercise. I was very unfit, so I began with walking and progressed to using weights. I bought a pedometer and tried to build more walking into my daily routine, as well as my three times a week sessions.
My motivation was high at the start and, after three weeks, my clothes started to feel looser. When I visited Marilyn after a month – oh joy! I'd lost an inch all round and eight pounds.
The next month was tougher, as the weight wouldn't budge. There were a few lunches and a mini-break, so I wasn't surprised when I saw Marilyn again that I hadn't shed as much – four pounds this time. But, encouragingly, I'd lost another inch all round and my muscle mass had increased which meant, Marilyn said, that my body was burning more fat.
She said one problem could have been that I was eating too much even of the right things. Portion size was vital: a couple of tablespoons of porridge, a palm-sized serving of protein, half that amount of brown rice or corn pasta and a couple of similar sized portions of salad or cooked veg for lunch and the same amounts for supper – minus the carbs.
Month three was easier but there were moments, such as meals out with friends, when it took every ounce of willpower to stick to the rules. But by this time my trousers, which used to dig into my waist, were now resting gently on my hips. When people started to notice, I renewed my determination. At my third and final appointment, I'd lost another couple of pounds and another inch all round.
So did it work? Well, I've lost a stone and, according to the Body Composition Monitor, I'm no longer obese. My fat percentage has reduced to a healthier 32.1 and my muscle mass has increased. Best of all, I have not only (almost) regained my waist, but my youth too. At 43, my metabolic age is now 13 years younger than me!

Top tip Follow the 80:20 rule – if you eat well 80 per cent of the time, you can relax the rules for the remaining 20 per cent. This meant that during the first month of my waist-whittling plan, I was allowed a cheat day, during the second month I could have one cheat day a fortnight and, after the third, one cheat day a week. Knowing I was allowed to cheat kept me on the straight and narrow much better than a strict regime.

The 9-rule eating plan
1 Break your fast Grabbing a coffee on the go sends blood sugar shooting up and insulin begins to pump out, putting your body on starvation alert and telling it to store fat. I switched to eating a bowl of slow energy-releasing porridge with almonds and seeds or a fruity soya smoothie. Try Rye bread with sugar-free jam or pure nut butter, or small pot of plain live yogurt with fruit, a handful of nuts or seeds or a small bowl of muesli.

2 Become a grazer In addition to breakfast, lunch and supper, train yourself to eat a small protein snack every three hours. This sends your body the message that it's not under stress, that it can kick your metabolism up a notch and plunder the old fat stores for energy too.
Try packets of nuts, which I ate with an apple, or oatcakes spread with hummus or some small pots of plain live yogurt.

3 Curb the carbs While carbs are the body's preferred fuel, it's vital to keep a balance. Not enough cause a blood sugar drop, triggering release of those stress hormones, which lead to midriff weight gain. Too many, especially of the fast-releasing kind such as white bread, white rice, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and potatoes, have the same effect. To help shift midriff fat effectively, Marilyn says there must be absolutely no carbs after 6pm – not even brown rice or wholewheat pasta. Try Switching to a favourite veg instead – perhaps asparagus or purple sprouting broccoli – and reinstate brown rice, potatoes and pasta (in sensible amounts) after three months.

4 Prioritise the protein. Protein slows down the rate at which your stomach empties and when you add protein to a carb, it becomes a slow-releasing form. It can be as simple as sprinkling nuts and seeds on your breakfast cereal or over a salad. Protein also encourages production of the fat-burning hormone glucagon. I found that having a small amount at every meal kept me satisfied and helped limit cravings for chocolate bars and biscuits. Try vegetable soup sprinkled with seeds and a slice of rye bread or smoked mackerel and salad for lunch. For dinner, try stir-fried veg with chicken or tofu, or a lentil curry with veg or a portion of grilled meat or fish with cooked veg or salad.

5 Eat fat Alas, not the reinstatement of my chocolate addiction. These are “good” essential fatty acids, or EFAs, found in nuts, seeds and oily fish rather than the “bad” kind in red meat, dairy products and chocolate bars. When you add a good fat to a carbohydrate, it too slows the rate at which food enters the gut. Try sardines on rye bread or guacamole (avocados are rich in good fats) with oatcakes. Omega-3 fats found in oily fish, such as salmon, swordfish and tuna, are especially good because they cause blood sugar to be burnt as fuel instead of being stored as fat. If you don't like fish, take an Omega-3 fish oil supplement of 1,000mg a day.

6 Stop for supper. Eating on the run, which I did too often, triggers the fight or flight mechanism. Your digestive system shuts down, so your body can conserve energy for saving your life rather than digesting dinner. Worse still, it triggers the ever-lurking cortisol to pile on pounds around your waist. Try sitting down, if only for ten minutes, eating slowly and chewing well – this helps you feel full.

7 Eat early. This will give you enough time to digest food before you sleep. My protein-based meal kept me feeling fuller for longer and helped stave off mid-evening munchies. Eating out was a challenge, but I ate nuts and an apple before setting off, so I had the strength to forego the bread basket. Also, Marilyn suggested extra veg or salad instead of pasta, rice or potatoes. Try Eating an oatcake an hour before bed to keep blood sugar levels steady overnight.

8 Cut the caffeine. Caffeine prompts cortisol release, which triggers the whole insulin-fat deposit cycle. And that's not all. Over time the body becomes resistant to insulin and turns blood sugar straight into fat which, of course, heads directly to the waist. I was never a coffee addict, but I couldn't start the day without a cup of Earl Grey. Try Rooibos tea, which is caffeine-free.

9 Ban the booze. Alcohol is just liquid carbohydrate and it hits your bloodstream straight away, especially if you drink on an empty stomach. Marilyn told me that I'd have to cut out that wind-down glass of chilled white wine after a hard day at work, at least for a month. Try limiting white wine to the weekends if, like me, you can't quite manage to become teetotal. I must say I found this the hardest rule of all!

Sample menu
o Breakfast Soya fruit smoothie: whizz up 165g (5½oz) berries, 150ml (5fl oz) soya milk, 150ml (5fl oz) water, 1tbsp (heaped) ground almonds and seeds and 1tbsp flaxseed oil.
o Mid-morning snack An apple and four almonds, or carrot or celery sticks to dip in a pot of hummus, or a pot of natural yogurt, or half an avocado or a handful of nuts and dried sour cherries – my favourite.
o Lunch Salad with either a small tin of tuna in olive oil (but with the oil drained off), or a palm-sized portion of fresh tuna, or half a small pot of hummus.
o Mid-afternoon snack As for mid-morning.
o Evening Grilled salmon, chicken or marinated tofu with palm-sized portions of asparagus and broccoli or a salad.
o An hour before bed An oatcake.

Get exercisingFollow this mix of exercise and remember to warm up and cool down at each session.
Aerobics Aim for four 30-minute sessions of aerobic exercise each week – fast walking, dancing, swimming, jogging or an exercise class. The aim is to feel slightly out of breath, but not so much you can't talk. Vary the intensity with interval training – for example, pick a point between two trees or lampposts and walk fast or jog towards it, then drop back to a slower pace.
Weights Try to do two to three 30-minute sessions of weights per week – Marilyn's book Fat Around the Middle gives starter exercises. Begin with a light weight and build up. The aim is to lift the weight 12 times (this is a repetition) and do three lots of these (sets). If you find the third set difficult, you'll know you have the right weight.

TAKE SUPPLEMENTS
To control stress hormones and get blood sugar in balance, Marilyn suggested a three-month course of a daily multivitamin and mineral, 200mcg chromium to stave off cravings, 100mg Siberian ginseng to help balance stress and amino acid to help my cells use insulin better.

Fat Around The Middle by Marilyn Glenville (Kyle Cathie, £9.99). Readers of Woman & Home can buy the book at the special price of £7.99, including free p&p (UK mainland only) by calling (020) 7692 7215, quoting ref WH/FATM. For a consulation with Marilyn, call 0870-5329244 or visit www.marilynglenville.com.

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