Weight had always been an issue for me, but when I found myself facing the hardest period of my life, I turned to food even more. I fled a violent marriage from my son’s father, taking my boys Alex, now 17, and Leo, 14, with me. Then he died by suicide. A few years earlier, Alex had also received a diagnosis of autism, so we were dealing with an awful lot as a family.My only escape was through food: I would eat all the time – toast, sausage rolls, pastries, sweets, chocolate. I would use the kids as an excuse and say to them: ‘We’re having a front room picnic,’ then snack on anything. The weight piled on, until, in May 2024, I was 21 stone and a size 30-32 - and I’m only 5ft 4.I didn’t exercise. The kids’ school was 800 metres away and even that was a struggle. I’d tell Leo to run ahead, because, truthfully, I couldn’t keep up.I’d tried every diet – Atkins, the F-Plan - but none of them worked. Slimming World says you can eat as much pasta as you want, which I took as a personal challenge! I was the heaviest and most miserable I’d ever been, but then I met my partner Steve and we were due to go on holiday to Majorca and I wanted to feel a little more comfortable on the plane.My friend, a consultant, was doing the Cambridge 1:1 Diet and it was working for her, so I signed up for the four weeks before the holiday.There are six steps to the diet and I started on step 1B, which involves eating four replacement products a day, totalling 800 calories. There are more than 40 meal replacement products - like cereals, yoghurt drinks, or porridge for breakfast, soups for lunch and meals like spaghetti bolognese and Thai noodles for dinner, plus snacks such as crisps, chocolate and smoothies.I lost a stone in that month and felt so good, I decided to keep going, setting myself short-term goals. By last November, I’d shed half my body weight. I’ve lost 10.5st and weigh 10.5st, am a size 12 to 14 and the healthiest I have ever been.For the first time, I feel like who I should be. I’m finally comfortable in my own skin and hugely more healthy. In fact, losing all that weight saved my life in a very obvious and direct way. Abigail Bush, 54, lost a stone in four weeks before a holiday to Majorca Abigail has since lost 10.5st following The Cambridge 1:1 Diet, half of her body weight When I was so much bigger, I couldn’t properly see a mole on my forearm – it was hidden in all the rolls of fat. I knew it was there, but I didn’t ever look very closely at myself because I didn’t want to.But after I lost weight, I saw it had scabbed, and thought I should get it checked out. The doctor confirmed it was skin cancer - the most serious kind, a melanoma - and I had it cut out. It was such a shock, but I’m clearly very lucky I caught it when I did.I’m now 54 and my whole life has changed. We just got back from a family holiday in Lanzarote and on the plane, I held the seatbelt out as far as it would go and said, ‘I used to be this fat,’ with my belly touching the tray table. I can’t believe what I look like in holiday photos now. My kids love their new happy mum - I’ll never go back.Here’s how I did it and how you can too:Short-term goals are the keyInitially, I signed up to The 1:1 Diet for four weeks before a holiday, then decided to carry on until the end of summer; then my birthday, then Christmas and so on. I found short-term goals less overwhelming and, because I felt so good, I didn’t want to stop.I realised I was addicted to food The diet involves eating four meal replacement products a day, with options such as porridge, bolognese and Thai noodlesIt took me a long time to realise I was addicted to food, but by switching to meal replacements, I didn’t have to think about what I was going to eat, I just had to consume four ‘products’ a day. My family was very supportive: they didn’t question why I wasn’t having birthday cake or Christmas dinner - they knew losing weight and feeling healthier was more important than one meal.Weekends are diet-freeNow I’ve reached my goal weight, I follow my diet Mondays to Fridays, eating meal replacement products. At weekends I eat what I like and might have fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, tuna and egg salad for lunch and jacket potato, with cheese, beans and salad for dinner.I’m activeBefore, I could hardly walk my son to school, but now, when my kids want to go for a walk or bike ride, I do it without even thinking. I walk the dog and get in at least 6,000 steps a day. I have also joined a local netball team, because I wanted to do something sociable.I think like a slim personOn holiday I eat what I’ve want, so I put on a few pounds. But unlike before, I don’t worry about it and delay starting healthy eating again. You have to get straight back into good habits. Think like a slimmer person.Get supportI would go to my slimming consultant friend’s house every week for a weigh-in and encouragement. In between, we’d text for a morale boost. I’m also part of her WhatsApp group with other slimmers, which is really supportive.one2onediet.com*As told to Kerry Parnell