WEIGHING in at 21st, food addict Sarah Jane Clark scoffed chocolate buttons for breakfast, and washed them down with a Coca-Cola.
Cruel bullies taunted her with jibes about her size, while doctors warned she was eating herself to death and wouldn’t live to see her 40th birthday. Shocked, the now 53-year-old took action and today the slender size 10 fitness guru tells Sun Health it wasn’t weight loss jabs that saw her shed 12st.
8
8
Growing up, Sarah Jane, from Swindon, Wiltshire, was always self-conscious about her weight.
“I got all sorts of comments like: ‘Oh you’ll always be a big girl, it runs in the family’,” she tells Sun Health.
“At school I was a curvy size 14, horrendous damage was done. One lad, aged 13, told me: ‘You’d be a really pretty girl if you weren’t fat’.
“I wouldn’t buy skirts because someone said to me once: ‘Your legs are like rugby players’ legs, like tree trunks’.
“That stuck in my head for years and years and years. It was in my subconscious.”
As a teenager, Sarah Jane suffered from severe acne and her hair was “greasy and lank”.
She was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) then her periods stopped and she was told she had high blood pressure and a high heart rate.
“I also ached from head to toe and I had chronic fatigue and brain fog,” the mum-of-two adds.
Despite wanting to change, Sarah Jane felt completely addicted to food.
By 14, she had tried The Cambridge Diet, a very low-calorie plan designed for rapid weight loss which involved drinking three shakes a day, but she would always end up bingeing.
“There was no amount of sugary food that was too much – it was like a drug,” Sarah Jane says.
“I was absolutely addicted to sugar. I think this stemmed from childhood; my mum was really wonderful but was not affectionate at all.
“Her love language was baking and cooking, things like biscuits and cakes, and my gran was exactly the same.
“It was always sweet foods filled with jam, and always biscuits.”
As she got older, Sarah Jane would start each day with a large bag of Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons and a can of Coca-Cola.
At lunchtime, she would tuck into a sandwich, with a packet of crisps, biscuits and cake.
And for dinner, she would have a ready meal or takeaway.
You can’t just inject yourself with Ozempic and love yourself. I understand the desperation and would have ripped someone’s arm off for a weight loss jab back in the day, but it is not the answer
Sarah Jane Clark
Sarah Jane would only drink full-sugar coke, coffee with milk and two sugars, and cups of tea accompanied by endless packets of biscuits.
This highly processed, high sugar diet took its toll on her body, but also her mental health.
“I remember once in a restaurant, a group of lads pointed over to me, calling me ‘the Hulk’ and giggling,” she says.
“I worked in a hair salon at the time and my colleagues would arrange nights out and I wouldn’t be invited.
“I would find out afterwards and they’d say: ‘Oh we didn’t think you’d want to come, it wouldn’t be your thing’.
“But I knew that it was because they didn’t want to be seen with me. I wasn’t stupid.”
8
8
8
Sarah Jane then worked with a consultant psychiatrist who said sugar was as addictive as cocaine.
She was “really pleased” to have an explanation as to why she couldn’t stop eating, but it didn’t help her quit junk food.
Eventually in her mid-20s, when she was a size 28 and her periods had stopped due to her weight, she got the wake-up call she needed.
“Doctors told me: ‘You are eating yourself to death. You won’t make it to 40’,” she says.
Sarah Jane, then 25, began to make small changes, starting by simply walking for 30 minutes every day and drinking more water.
She then banned takeaways and processed or unhealthy foods, and she lost 7st in 16 months.
At 27, she gave birth to her daughter Chloe, now 27, and was then 18st – having lost 4st through walking and eating a healthier diet.
A year later she had her son Jack, now 26, and was 15st 8lbs after giving birth.
‘My body continues to amaze me’
“I hadn’t really been on a diet, I just changed one thing a step at a time,” she says.
“But the healthier I became, the healthier I wanted to be. It just felt amazing.”
Sarah Jane, previously an administrative assistant at a mental health hospital and now founder of Step By Step With Sarah Jane, went on to take up running and weight training at the gym.
Despite being told she wouldn’t see 40, she ran Cancer Research UK’s 5km Race for Life for her 40th birthday, weighing 12st.
She has now completed 50 half marathons and run the London Marathon twice, and stabilised at a trim 9st 10lb for the last five years.
“My body continues to amaze me. I love a healthy lifestyle,” she says.
Sarah Jane’s weight loss rules
- Walk for at least 20 to 30 minutes a day
- Increase your water intake
- Cut takeaways and processed foods – if a food has more than five ingredients, don’t eat it
- Find a form of exercise you actually enjoy (e.g. running or weight training)
- Avoid weight loss jabs
As well as losing weight, Sarah Jane found love.
After splitting from her previous partner aged 28, she met and fell for Paul Flounders, 53, in 2021 and they married in 2024.
“I met Paul through our love of running and that’s made a massive difference,” Sarah Jane says.
“When I told him about my weight loss journey, he said I was amazing. Because I didn’t feel like that about myself I couldn’t believe he would think that about me.
“He is an incredible man who has served in the forces, been all around the world and he thinks little old me is amazing, so we are a really good combination for each other.”
8
8
8
She hopes sharing her story will show others that anyone can turn their life around.
“Educate yourself about what you are eating and read the ingredients,” she says.
“If the food has more than five ingredients, don’t eat it.
“Take food back to basics and move your body every day – a 20-minute walk daily will make you so much fitter.”
And to women turning to weight loss jabs like Ozempic, she adds: “People don’t understand that food is highly emotional – a lot of women are eating their feelings so food addiction is massive.
“You can’t just inject yourself and love yourself.
“I understand the desperation and would have ripped someone’s arm off for a weight loss jab back in the day, but it is not the answer.
“You need to look at the psychological reasons for food addiction.
“I see people on jabs still eating crap food. I don’t think it is the miracle people think it is.”
How to lose weight safely
Losing weight should be a long-term commitment to healthier living, rather than any drastic measures.
The NHS tips – which can be adopted slowly – include:
- Get active for 150 minutes a week – you can break this up into shorter sessions
- Aim to get your 5 A Day – 80g of fresh, canned or frozen fruit or vegetables count as 1 portion
- Aim to lose 1 to 2lbs, or 0.5 to 1kg, a week
- Read food labels – products with more green colour coding than amber and red are often a healthier option
- Swap sugary drinks for water – if you do not like the taste, add slices of lemon or lime for flavour
- Cut down on food that’s high in sugar and fat – start by swapping sugary cereal for wholegrain alternatives
- Share your weight loss plan with someone you trust – they can help motivate you when you have a bad day
Read about:
