“Then there was the realisation that I didn't actually feel that much better when I was thin(ner). In fact the 'thin' version felt worse because I lived with hunger clawing at my stomach all the time, and in fear that I was going to get fat again. After years of neuroticism I'd finally understood those who loved me would continue to put up with me fat or thin, and those who didn't ignored me. As a middle-aged woman I was pretty much invisible anyway. To pass unnoticed through an image-obsessed society is surprisingly liberating.”

“With relationships, I always had a reason why some time in the future would be better for me than it was that day. When I was fat, I thought I'd feel pretty when I was thin, and when I was thin, I thought I'd be happier if I was more toned and muscular and had more money to look more coordinated. I wasn't comfortable in my own skin unless there was a man there to tell me just how radiant that skin looked. I was a victim of low self-esteem and had the Soon syndrome bad. I was running toward a brighter future, unaware of the mirages I'd created in the distance.”

“I don't believe less is more. I believe that more is more. I believe that less is less, fat fat, thin thin and enough is enough. ”

“I first got very thin after Ashley. I felt like my stomach was doing backflips - like my emotions had taken over and made me full.”

“When I said I loved you, I didn't mean for a week, or maybe a year, I meant always, in the good times and the bad, through thick and thin. I'm playing for keeps here, Mags.”

“I didn't know that there was a thin line between ignorance and arrogance.”