FROM SUGAR RUSHES TO PARK RUNS

‘I grew up a chubby kid in a family of fat women,’ Sam says. ‘Body image and femininity were never important. Every occasion was celebrated with food; every eina was made better with a treat. Every lunch box included “something nice”. You always had to clear your plate because “there are hungry children in China”. In lean times we craved food and in better times we made up for it by overeating.’

Sam went on her first diet at 12. Her weight fluctuated between 70kg and 80kg from her teenage years through to her twenties and she never had