Chat – 25 July 2019

Ourwedding

photosmade

me cringe

Welovedeach

other– and

our grub...

S

pyingourwaiter

weavingthroughthe

restaurantwithtwo

piled-highplates,

I turnedto mydate.

‘Herecomesour

food,’I grinnedto Corey.

Despitehavingalready

polishedoffa ‘sharing’starter

each,wedemolishedour

doublebaconcheeseburgers

inminutes,shovelledinchips

andonionrings.

‘Delicious!’Corey,24,said.

‘What’sfordessert?’

It wasMarch2013,andour

firstdate.I fanciedthepants

offCoreyandwegoton

brilliantlyfromthestart.

Well,wehada lot

incommon– bothof us

reallylovedourfood.

Ourrelationship

blossomedoverthree-

coursemeals,buckets

of popcornatthemovies

andhotdogsandburgers

watchingsportsgames.

Youcouldsaythatit

wasironic...whentheother

thingwehadincommon

WORDS: EMMA ROSSITER, LIANA JACOB. PHOTOS: MDWFEATURES,COREY AND MARIE MARTINwas that we both hated

Meandmy

fiancehad

bigappetites

• butnotin

thebedroom

Marie Martin, 32

You should

SEE US NOW

31

thewaythatwelooked.

Coreyhadalwaysbattled

withhisweight,whereas

I’dpiledonthepoundsat

universityandnowjust

squeezedintoa size-20/22.

Wewerea matchingpair!

WhenCoreyproposed

eightmonthslater,in

November2013,weboth

weighed19st2lb.

I woresize-26clothes,

CoreywasanXXXL.

Bothof uswerefilledwith

moreself-loathingthanever,

butit didn’taffectour

appetitesonebit.

Exceptforoneplace,though

• inthebedroom.Oursexlife
  wasvirtuallynon-existent.
  Whenyou’reaslargeaswe
  were,evenwalkingupstairs
  washardwork.
  Sobedtimeacrobaticswere
  outof thequestion.
  And,wheneverit seemed
  romancewasonthecards,
  I’ddoallI couldto hide
  away. I’d reach for the light

switch,tuggingatthebed

sheetsto makesureI covered

upallmylumpsandbumps.

Coreywoulddohisbestto

helpmeto relax.

‘YouknowI thinkyou’re

beautiful,’he’dsayto me.

Sucha sweetheart.

Soasweplannedour

wedding,I’dnodoubtthathe

wastheoneforme.

TheninJune2014,just

oneweekbeforeourbigday,

I fellillwithbronchitisandan

earinfection.

MyGPprescribedantibiotics

and,asI lefttheconsulting

room,hesighed.

‘Ifyoudon’tchange

somethingsoon,youwon’t

liveto see30,’hewarned.

Atthatpoint,I was

27 – he’dgivenme

threeyearsatbest!

A deathsentence.

A weekon,Corey

andI saidourvows.

Lookingintohiseyes,

I focusedonhowmuch

I lovedhim,ratherthan

justhowlumpyI feltin

my oversized, strapless

sweetheartweddingdress.

Butfastforwardto June,

whenourweddingphotos

arrived,andmyheartsank.

‘Thesepicslookfab,don’t

they?’Coreybeamed.

‘Yeah,’I nodded,butinside

I wasscreaming.

Myarmsbulged.Andthe

corset,despiteitsbestefforts

to pullmeintight,threatened

to burstattheseams.

It tookallmystrengthnotto

breakdown,thenandthere.

Forthefirsttimeever,

I realisedhowbigI’dbecome.

AndI hatedit.

Withthatimageinmymind

andthedoctor’sstarkwarning

echoinginmyears,I knew

somethinghadto change.

It was diet – or die...

GORGING TO GORGEOUS