Live Longer Wales: Helen's Heart - Diet or Die

Remember the Whewell family? How could you forget them?

Burgers?

This time last year, we followed the family as they struggled

to change their diet...

We eat way too much.

..exercise...

-LAUGHTER

-Pedal!

-I can't! Oh, my God.

..and lifestyle in an ongoing family battle against the bulge.

It's YOU that needs to change.

12 months later, and some of the family have embraced those changes.

But others continue to struggle...

-You need to go to the gym class.

-You need to go to the gym.

Mum Helen Whewell's still in denial.

I think these idiots know nothing.

But now, after a heart-stopping health scare...

Your heart rate is going at 230 beats per minute.

..there's no denying that her lifestyle is life-threatening.

Are you ready to change?

So, in a roller-coaster ride of triumphs...

tears...

It's very difficult, because people do judge by appearances.

..and some stark home truths...

I've been told, "You have to do this, or you're going to die."

..we follow Helen and the Whewells

as she faces the challenge of a lifetime...

It's like the mother ship calling me home, look at it!

..to diet...

-Mother!

-..or die.

If there's one thing we're all being force fed more than fast food,

it's alarming headlines about what the food's doing to us.

Obesity, strokes, diabetes, heart-attacks, cancer -

they're all on the increase, and, according to the experts,

that's down to all that rubbish we're scoffing.

But of course, the experts don't mean people like you, or me,

or the Whewell family...

I still don't think there's anything wrong with being decadent now

and again, because you're only here once.

Well, actually, just like the Whewells, almost 70% of us

here in Wales are already overweight or obese.

And, as a nation, that makes over two million of us

an A & E incident just waiting to happen.

Which is exactly why this time last year,

as part of the BBC's Live Longer Wales season,

the Whewell family from Abersychan agreed to take part in

Family Life Swap.

As a family, they'd just come to a sobering realisation.

Where we've gone wrong is that you're meant to eat to live,

but we now live to eat.

And so 12-year-old Jenni

and 18-year-old Bonnie swapped lives with fitness fanatics Eva

and Rosie Thompson, in the hope that the Thompson family's healthy

lifestyle and diet would rub off on the Whewells.

And whilst all that fresh food

and fresh air took some getting used to...

You've got a fish!

-It's nice.

-It smells.

SHE SCREAMS

..the week-long swap was a riot.

And some valuable lessons were learnt.

I think it achieved what we wanted it to achieve.

In the weeks following the swap, the Whewells lost over three

and a half stone in weight.

If we can do it, then anyone can.

But keeping the weight off is the dieter's eternal dilemma...

And, come Christmas,

when the Thompsons paid a festive visit,

the Whewells' road to good intentions had been re-paved...

with cream.

That's one hell of a Yule log!

LAUGHTER

But this gravy train of rich foods, sugary drinks and fatty takeaways

was hurtling inexorably to one final destination - heartache.

Helen had an incident.

She'd been feeling ill for a couple of days.

I had the sudden feeling of fatigue,

I had pain in my chin and my jaw, then I had the sudden

chest pain, and what was really horrible was that I had another one.

On Monday 24th of March of this year, Helen was rushed to hospital.

Helen said that the GP had said that she may have had a heart attack

at this point. We didn't know, obviously,

but it was a sheer panic at that point.

I was terrified when that happened, terrified.

She was really, really poorly, they hooked her up straightaway.

The doctor arrived and he was very nice,

he explained that it was a bad attack of arrhythmia -

that was the relief sort of thing, because they did a blood oxygen test

so we knew at that point obviously that it's not a heart attack.

But...tricky.

Helen had suffered her worst-ever episode

of a pre-existing medical problem.

I've got a heart condition called supraventricular tachycardia.

I get quite significant heart arrhythmia.

I then get chest pain and very, very chronic fatigue.

It's something that can be treated. But my consultant is very

reluctant to do that unless I've lost a significant amount of weight.

The long and the short of it is that Helen needs heart surgery,

but is too overweight for the surgery to be safe.

Soon after her trip to A & E, Helen is referred to the weight

management clinic in Ebbw Vale, where the true extent of her

health issues will be assessed.

Well, this morning we've got an appointment -

I've got an appointment - with the weight management service.

I'm going to see Dr Haboubi and I know that he's going to tell me

lots of things that I don't want to hear, but probably know.

And the first thing Helen doesn't want to know is her exact weight.

I'm dreading standing on the scales, it's a long time

since I've put my foot on a weighing scales, a very long time.

In fact, we don't even own a weighing scales,

other than to measure cream and eggs and butter and sugar!

Stand on to the scales here, OK?

It's groaning.

117.4, you can step off there now

and I'll convert it over for you, because everything is in metric.

Don't do that!

So, that's 18st and 7lb with shoes and clothing, OK?

-Oh, my word.

-All right?

So I'll take you back down to the little waiting area there

and our staff nurse will call you.

At 18 and a half stone,

Helen's Body Mass Index puts her in the category of the morbidly obese.

The notoriously straight-talking Dr Haboubi

is about to spell out just how serious that is.

There's a lot of issues going into this,

because we call obesity a disease.

If you are well and healthy, and your blood pressure is OK -

I know you're taking tablets for your blood pressure -

and you're not diabetic, but you're going to be diabetic,

you're going to have osteoarthritis, you already have heart problems

and you might have chronic arthritis in the future,

you might have a stroke,

so there are so many risk factors with being obese,

and the lighter you are, the healthier you are,

and the longer you live, as simple as that.

So, what we need to do now is that we have to change,

-and that's why I say, are you going to change?

-Yes.

-Are you?

-Yes.

-Promise?

-Absolutely.

-Now?

-The sooner the better.

Are you a member of a gym?

-No.

-Why not? You can't afford it?

Um, time. I don't have any time.

You do.

Can we discuss your time with the gym?

How many hours do you sleep?

I could sleep for Britain, I'm always tired.

-How many hours?

-Nine hours?

-How many hours do you work?

Eight.

How much time do you need to travel?

An hour.

How much time do you need to eat and drink and go to the toilet

-and so on?

-An hour.

-Anything else?

-Housework is another hour.

So this is 20?

The day is 24, and you cannot give me an hour a day?

You must be joking.

You can't have it both ways.

We want to move you from this path, which will take you to death,

to this path, which will make you live a lot longer.

Are you going to lose weight? Of course you are.

But it's a mission for life.

-You want me to help you with that mission?

-Yes, please.

-Contract? We sign the deal?

-Absolutely. Yes.

There's a lot of difference between knowing that you're overweight

and you've got to lose weight, and being sat in a medical clinic,

in a hospital, being told, "You have to do this,

"or you're going to die."

Dr Haboubi's message couldn't have been starker.

Helen heads home to break the news to her daughters.

The doctor said to me I've got two choices,

one is that I go down the path of losing weight

and I have a long life, and the other one is that I go

on the path I'm on at the moment, and the outcome is not so good.

-Did they do your BMI?

-Yeah.

What is your category?

Morbidly obese.

-So it's the highest one you can be?

-Yeah.

So, big changes.

When you say "big changes", what do you mean?

He asked me about exercise and I said I don't have time to exercise...

No, no, no.

You do have time to exercise, you just don't want to.

You can't be bothered to exercise.

That's not true.

Oh, my God, yes, it is.

How often do me and Jenni say to you on a night we want to go to spinning

classes? Like the other week, we want to go to swimming,

but you come home from work and you're too tired

to want to do anything.

You just want to lie down upstairs and sit on your iPad.

But he's identified a four-hour window now that you've got,

in spite of everything else that you do.

Right. We start tomorrow.

-No.

-It starts today.

OK, it starts today.

We'll get you doing some of the gentle exercises.

I haven't got any salad stuff in the house, so I can't...

He didn't say it had to be all about that, you didn't listen to him.

I did listen to him.

Food isn't the problem, we don't even eat that bad any more.

It's the snacking, exercise and the wine.

That wine is a bad habit, Mum.

Well, none of us do any exercise, so none of us can say anything,

but I would like to do exercise, Jenni would like to do exercise,

it's you who needs to take us there and arrange it.

And pay for it!

LAUGHTER

The medical team has recommended that Helen shed a minimum

of nine kilos - about one and a half stone -

before she can be considered for her heart op.

And for that, she'll need the family's support.

I don't think she'll do it.

I'm 50/50, really.

I don't believe she'll stick to it.

She's had loads of chances to do things,

and she's never stuck to anything, so why is it now different?

I don't know. I just don't believe.

Something in me is saying that she won't do it,

and I'll be shocked. I'll believe it when I see it, in other words.

What if I can't do it?

You will do it. You have to do it.

In truth, the odds are against Helen, as an estimated 95% of all

diets do end in failure.

But the family's resounding vote of no-confidence

just serves to spur Helen on.

I have to do it, there's no "what if" - it's do or die.

And first thing next morning,

she's heading for the nearest sports shop.

Hi.

-Anything in particular you're after?

-Oh, anything - as long as it's pink!

Determined to prove everyone wrong, Helen's planning to join a gym.

But first, she'd like to dress for success.

What if I wanted something really cool, cos I tend to get very hot?

I actually think if you look the part, you feel the part as well,

so I think that it's really important that you do get

the right stuff as much as you possibly can.

But Helen finds her right stuff in short supply.

When you're bigger and you're looking for clothes,

most of the clothes don't fit.

I wish they'd be more generous with their sizes.

They say a large is a 14, and to me that's petite.

SHE CHUCKLES

I'm demoralised before I start -

however, I can tell you there is nothing in the world that

would ever induce me to put these on, even if I was a size 8.

I look like my PE teacher.

These trousers are much better.

If you consider this is the largest size they've got

in the shop of women's clothes - and, you know, yes, I am big,

but I'm not as big as some people.

But that's a real shame.

But I quite like this, I think blue is the way to go.

Oh, I have got a waist, look at that! There it is.

-Did you find everything you were looking for?

-Yes! And more!

I set myself a budget of £200 and I still didn't have enough.

And they still charged me 5p for the bag!

Let's hope it's money well spent in next door's gym.

Every January, Britons sign up for over £50 million

worth of gym fees.

90 days later, an estimated 80% of us have already jacked it in.

So, this is your first time into the gym today?

Yep, this is alien territory.

Right, OK, well, as with anyone when they first come to the gym,

there's always that initial anxiety of being around others,

especially those who've been here for a long time, so it's really

important to understand that that feeling, it's completely natural.

When you come to the gym, if you've not done anything before,

would you start off... Would you come every day?

Would you come once a week? How would you pace it?

I don't see anything wrong with coming five days a week initially,

as long as you're not pushing yourself too hard.

Would you do every machine on every visit?

Or would you concentrate on one at...

To be honest, you don't really want to prolong a session

for any more than 45-50 minutes.

Right, and how long would it be before I saw a difference?

Say I came in now and did a work-out,

and then I come in tomorrow, and I do that Monday to Friday?

Well, within a week, you'll feel a difference, that's for sure.

Within a week, you should feel a lot healthier, especially

if you get your diet right as well.

Put your feet in the pedals just to give you a head start.

There you go, now ease it off nice and slowly.

One, two. Good.

So, is Helen about to become a Lycra-clad gym bunny?

Well, that was an experience.

Had a go in the gym, had a look around the gym.

When I walked in there I thought,

"Oh, this is really scary. This isn't me at all."

My problem is that doing that on your own is really boring

and that's still my problem with it.

It was quite a weird environment, really.

It was like being somewhere feeling that you don't quite belong,

if that makes sense, and I need to feel like I belong.

Whatever I do, I need to feel like I'm part of it

and I'm not really conspicuous, but I'm sure that if I went there

on a regular basis, I'm sure that actually that would probably come.

But at the moment it's just a bit daunting.

So will Helen ever darken that gym's chrome corridors again?

Who knows?

But whilst the training is put on indefinite hold,

Helen spends the next ten days trying to sort her diet out.

How many calories do you reckon in that pot?

700.

Chickpeas, high in calories. No more hummus for me.

Helen has set herself a target - to lose the recommended 1.5st

before she revisits the weight clinic in eight weeks' time.

A tall order, requiring much discipline.

And so all takeaways, crisps, pop, chocolate,

cream and processed foods - and hummus - are banned.

And as a further incentive to avoid such temptations,

Helen's been prescribed Dr Haboubi's little blue pills.

I'm going to take my blue pill now,

which I have to take about half an hour before I eat.

And the purpose of the blue pill, its proper name is Orlistat.

And when I say "blue pill" and I say I'm taking these blue pills,

people assume I'm on Viagra, but I'm not on Viagra.

These are Orlistat.

My cake stand has now become my blue pill stand.

How can I delicately put this?

The function of the blue pill is to stop the body absorbing any fat.

Things like butter, if you eat any fried food, because

you know there's a certain amount of natural fat in things anyway, but

it's the artificial fat, if you like, the fat that's added to things.

So anything that you eat is digested

but the fat just goes straight through.

It's not the nicest experience,

so consequently the best thing to do is not eat fat in the first place

and then you don't have to suffer the aftermath.

As an alternative to the aftermath,

or wearing adult nappies,

Helen's making a good fist of avoiding the fat.

Eric?

She's giving it to the dogs instead.

Helen's also taking the first tentative steps towards

an exercise regime. Every lunch hour, she leaves her office desk to

hit the hilly streets of Newport to do some urban power walking.

There's no point in taking it really slowly

or I wouldn't burn any calories and I wouldn't burn any fat.

Dr Haboubi told me I need to get a sweat up

so that's what I'm trying to do.

Power-walking can burn up to 600 calories an hour.

And for Helen, it's also good for lowering her blood pressure

and cholesterol.

Doing it is the easy bit, it's getting yourself

in the frame of mind to get up and do it - that's the hard bit.

You can be in the office and it might be a drizzly day

and you've had a bad morning and the last thing you feel like doing

is getting up and pounding the streets in your trainers,

but actually that's the most important time you should be

doing it because that's when the danger time is.

But I think before, the temptation

would have been that I've had a tough morning,

I'm going to buy myself a nice bag of chips for lunch to treat myself.

So actually, that's the ideal time to do it.

And all of this fresh air is also giving Helen

some philosophical food for thought.

Oh, hello, car!

Well, this all represents hopefully a new me, a new start.

It's very difficult

because I've had 44 years, nearly 45 years to become me.

I think when you get to your 40s you're actually quite comfortable

in who you are, you know yourself.

So actually trying to reinvent yourself,

people say it's easy to do - it's not easy to do.

It's not easy to shift those patterns

and thoughts you've always had.

You know, there's always positives.

The positives are going to be that I'm going to feel better,

I'm going to look better.

And Warren's told me if I lose 5st I can have a Bassett hound.

Ah, yes, the dog.

After two weeks of diet and moderate exercise,

Helen has lost just two pounds - a full 4st 13lbs

short of a Bassett hound.

What's more, she's getting confused

and disheartened with all the dietary advice she's been consuming.

White fish, vegetables, pasta, bread, rice and potatoes.

But then you can read some things

and it says don't eat bread, rice or potatoes.

"Enjoy more starchy foods."

See, again, that's contrary to what most people would tell you.

When people know you're on a diet,

everybody suddenly becomes a dietician and everybody's an expert.

"Do this. Don't do that."

If I listened to them all, I'd be living on sawdust.

People still talk about the Atkins Diet, which is high protein,

lots of meat and no carbohydrates.

There's one where you can sort of eat just soup,

there's one where you just have fluids, no solids at all.

There's even one where you just eat toast.

It's just really difficult to know

what's the important stuff to pick out and what isn't.

The One Week Egg Diet.

There's so many mixed messages, so I don't know.

My head is just absolutely scrambled.

In quiet desperation, Helen takes her scrambled head off for some

unlikely R&R TLC.

She's going to get her belly-button pierced!

I decided that as part of this new, leaner me,

I was going to do something I've wanted for quite a while -

have my stomach pierced.

I've just not had the self-confidence

to do it, so seeing as I'm making these great changes to myself,

this is my opportunity to do something I've wanted

to do for a while.

-Right, ready for some cold?

-Yeah.

-Do you want to know when it's coming?

-No.

There you go, done.

I hope that in a few weeks' time when I'm lying down and they're doing

all sorts of things to my heart, I hope it's as painless as that.

Um, it won't be as sparkly, but hopefully the results will be

just as satisfying in a different way.

-Oh, that's lovely. Thank you ever so much. Great job.

-That's all right.

Helen returns home, keen to show off her new body art,

but the welcoming committee's distinctly frosty.

Well, do you want to see it?

Go on, then.

All right, I won't show you, then. That's fine.

If you don't want to see it, that's fine. No problem.

Look!

Oh.

Very nice.

Actually, Helen's about to face a family intervention

regarding her continuing evasion of physical activities.

I've been on the exercise bike, I've been, um...

iPad.

Not iPad.

It is iPad and I'm going to confiscate it for several hours

a week because I'm fed up of seeing you just staring at it.

But I'm reading about healthy things.

No, you're not! You're tweeting and on Facebook.

-I'm not!

-It's irrelevant.

You are, Mum, because basically I walk in and I ask you a question

-and you completely ignore me.

-You go into a different world.

Yeah, and then you go, "I'm just listening to music on Spotify."

HELEN LAUGHS

When we were with Dr Haboubi, the one thing he stated

was that you had four hours free a day.

-Yeah...

-That were completely free

and I think two of those hours are taken up

on a certain device.

-I don't go on my iPad all the time.

-Yes, you do!

-I don't!

-You do!

She comes in, she goes upstairs and lies on the bed

for about an hour, then you wonder where she's disappeared to

and you go upstairs and she's on her iPad, saying, "I'm tired."

And you always have headaches - no wonder.

You're always looking at that thing.

I am not six years old. You are not confiscating my iPad.

Well, I'll change your password.

You can't do that.

I can. I'll change your password and the only way you can have it is

if I enter it.

You can't do that.

Well, there's certainly going to be a reduction in use

because recently there's been a little bit of words about exercise,

hasn't there? And I told you, you haven't been doing enough.

But I have been on the exercise bike.

Ten minutes on the exercise bike doesn't do anything for fitness.

You need more than that.

You need to go to the gym class, I don't care what anyone else says.

Yes, and I take your point,

but to go from nothing to overkill would not be good for me.

The excuse of "We can't go to the gym yet

"because I need to build my fitness levels" is a load of rubbish.

How do you build your fitness

if you're not going to the gym and doing things?

In your defence, on the gym side, you're not a gym person, are you?

-No, I'm not.

-Everyone could say that.

I'm not a gym person but I still want to go and lose weight.

Yes, but I can't think of anything, for me, more boring.

You're such a liar!

I'd go dancing. I'd love to do dancing.

-Then go to the gym and do a Zumba class or a spin class.

-Zumba class?

-Yes!

-That's really fast. My knees won't...

Or an aqua aerobics class.

I don't really want to sit on an exercise bike in a gym, I'd rather

be on the bike in the countryside, doing something like that.

I'm not saying you have to go to the gym and pedal,

you've got to go to the gym and do gym classes with people.

Well, I'm very upset. I can't believe these things I'm hearing.

-It had to be said, didn't it?

-No, but it's not true, is it?

It is true, we wouldn't say it if it wasn't true.

And you don't see how busy I am in the day.

Irrelevant. So am I.

Intervention over, Helen dons her new gym kit

and the family set out for a power walk along the local canal.

Eric, you look how I feel, mate.

And Helen feels that she's dressed in the Emperor's new clothes.

I'm very self-conscious over the fact they're so fitting.

I normally like to hide behind baggy things

so I'm very self-conscious,

but it's not going to go if I don't get out in this.

It's not going to get any better, is it? So I've got to keep going and

just hope I don't see anyone I know. I should have brought my sunglasses.

As ever, Helen deflects her discomfort

with good humour and a ready smile.

But an exchange with Warren reveals her true feelings.

-What are you doing?

-Just looking to see if I look fat in this.

You don't look fat in this. Do I look fat in this? Yes!

HE LAUGHS

-No!

-No!

Are you ashamed of the way I look?

No, I'm not ashamed of the way you look, I just think you need to,

instead of coming home and the proverbial sitting on the settee

and reading your iPad for half an hour when you come in,

do what I do, coming in and going on the exercise bike for half hour.

You're right, and I don't know why it has habitually been so difficult,

but it has been difficult.

I think when you start dieting, you have...

you do actually for the first time have a long look at yourself

objectively, as other people see you, and that's been really hard.

Really hard, because it's knocked my confidence.

I suppose instead of seeing myself as big and bouncy and bubbly,

I've seen myself as actually, you know...sad and fat.

-INTERVIEWER:

-That's not true, is it?

But it feels true sometimes.

It feels less true as I'm going through this, but it does feel true.

-When do those moments get to you, then?

-Um...

I think I probably have them when I'm looking at clothes,

I think I probably have them...

..when I'm out and about.

I think I look at the girls and they've got very, um...

I don't know what the word is. I suppose they've got ideals

about what normal is in this society.

I see the kids and they talk about people who they idolise

and they want to emulate and none of those people look like me.

Do any of us?

No, I know, but it's very...

..it's very difficult because people do judge

by appearances, I think.

I'm getting upset now and it gets to me sometimes,

but perhaps it has to, for me to make those changes.

Having met a psychological as well as a physical impasse,

Helen is struggling.

Her self-doubt and low self-esteem need addressing

before she slips back into comfort eating.

So she arranges to meet a cognitive behaviour therapist

who specialises in diet.

By looking at her life story and motivations,

Janet will hopefully help Helen address the emotional impulses

driving her unhealthy relationship with food.

I've never been skinny. I think there was one period of my life

where I was actually quite slim and that was when I was getting divorced

from Bonnie's father just before I met my husband, Jenni's father.

I think my weight plummeted then and that was really

because of the shock and the stress of the situation I found myself in.

Other than that, I've always been big.

In school they used to say to me, "You're quite podgy."

How many brothers and sisters did you have?

I grew up as an only child.

-Right, so you would have been having your meals with adults.

-Yes.

I wonder if you were having sort of adult size meals

-when you were growing up.

-Possibly.

Yeah, possibly.

I think with my parents, my parents liked to go out and eat a lot.

We did go out and eat a lot when I was younger.

And...you know, they always liked the nice things in life as well.

So when I was with my mum and dad... And then they split up when I was

quite young, so that's why I spent a lot of time with my grandparents

and then it was just myself and my mum then for some time.

I was interested that you said when you went to the clinic

and they said you were 18 and a half stone

and it took a bit of getting used to, being that weight,

because I wonder what being 18 and a half stone actually means to you.

Um, it's been hugely shocking

because that seems like a really huge weight

and I've been really brazen

about telling people what I weigh, actually,

because... My husband said, "Oh, you don't need to tell anyone,"

but, yes, I do, because I think

I actually need to shame myself into doing something about it.

When you're overweight, you tend to put a brave face on it,

a really strong, like... I'm jolly and happy and everything.

I'm the life and soul of the party.

And you sort of take the mick out of yourself

-because you... before somebody else can do it.

-Mm.

So yes, it's all...

Um, you know...

I don't feel particularly attractive any more.

I don't feel...as confident as I could do.

I'm wondering if part of you doesn't feel like you any more.

Possibly, possibly.

I've got a theory around motivation that it's having a goal

and very often I think the goal around weight loss

can be quite muddy,

because it can sometimes be a goal that somebody else has given us,

-like the doctors.

-Yeah.

So the way we work on it, I would say, is that first of all

we clarify the goals and make them your goals.

It's really important to me to do this, because...to lose weight,

for reasons I can't even explain. It's not...

I suppose it is a little bit about...you know, the heart thing,

but that's not the driving reason for it, actually.

It doesn't sound like it, does it?

All the people who have been nasty to me about my weight over the years,

I'd really like to show them and stick two fingers up at them,

I really would, and I know that sounds terrible

because then it's not about me not doing it for me,

but it is in a sense, because all the people

who have always been unpleasant to me

or quite dismissive about my weight, you know,

yeah, I would like to show them.

Am I beyond hope?

SHE LAUGHS

-Do you think you're beyond hope?

-Sometimes.

Yeah, I probably do.

I would say human.

-It's human.

-Yeah.

'Oh, my God, I've cried buckets.'

It's been really, really emotional but it was brilliant.

She's really, I suppose, hit a nerve and I can't explain why

but it was absolutely brilliant.

All these people are saying it's about the diet and it's about

the exercise. Actually it's not,

it's about examining what's within yourself.

Never has that become more real for me than this moment.

CBT appears to be the breakthrough that Helen has been looking for.

Hello, girls!

And armed with some self-knowledge,

and two fingers with which to salute her detractors...

This is Lily Savage.

..she's finally facing her challenges

with purpose and honesty.

I almost feel I need to write the words "Morbidly Obese"

and stick them on the fridge,

because I need to be reminded of where I don't want to be.

Over the next two weeks, her diet remains healthy,

and the threatened fall-out from Dr Haboubi's little blue pills

keeps her away from fatty temptations.

I haven't had chocolate, well,

since I saw Dr Haboubi I haven't had any chocolate.

But it's on the exercise front that real changes begin to be made.

I sound like Katherine Jenkins on this when I sing

because my voice does this lovely... # wobble! #

And in the kitchen, Helen's got in some home help.

We're trying to cook as much as we can

so Mum has time to do a bit of exercise.

My pulse is up to 127 at the moment,

which seems very, very fast.

Just having a little bit of time to do this

makes all of the difference in the world. It's really, really good.

But it's away from the home

where the real physical revolution has occurred.

No, she hasn't joined a gym - it's way more Helen Whewell than that.

The most important part of the evening is putting the coin belt on

which is the bit that jingles and jangles when we do our shimmying.

Open out the veils and as I say, shimmy, shimmy, shimmy, shimmy.

Then when we start we're going to start on the left, the left hip,

and we're going to do a circle.

Well, if you're going to get your belly-button pierced,

you might as well become a belly-dancer!

OK, good.

Now hip swerves.

This is something I really enjoy because there is a very...

Not only is it physically very relaxing, but invigorating.

I think there's also quite a spiritual element to belly-dancing.

The music is very, very lovely

and the motions are very fluid and there's just something

really nice and relaxing about it but it's good for you as well.

Two steps forward.

Because it uses core muscles, belly dancing is surprisingly

rigorous exercise - burning the same amount of calories as rowing.

The next bit is travel round in a circle with the veil behind you.

Chicken soup for the soul, that's what belly-dancing is to me.

I've looked at a lot of different options and things for fitness,

but I think everyone needs to find their own way

and I think this is mine, I really do.

It's quite sensual and it's quite feminine and when you're big,

it's not easy to feel feminine, so this is a lovely way of actually

doing exercise but feeling quite feminine about it at the same time.

I hope that this is the start of a...when I say "a new me",

a new sort of sexy, slightly less inhibited, free spirit me,

actually that's the old me, which is, you know, great.

And in for a penny,

in for a pounding - Helen also takes the ultimate exercise plunge.

I'm like a lamb to the slaughter.

With some reservations, she's finally agreed to join a gym.

I'm very nervous, actually, because this is very far out

of my comfort zone, it's not what I'm not used to at all.

Helen's GP has placed her

on the National Exercise Referral Scheme -

a 16-week government subsidised course

complete with a personal trainer.

-Hello.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

You'll be fine!

But will working out work out for Helen?

-The screens are user friendly.

-Right.

So that's all you need to worry about for now.

We're going to press the green. Does that feel OK?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-Good.

So did you find it a chore to fit this in today?

It would have been very easy to say, "Oh, I'm really tired,

"I've had a bad day.

"I wasn't feeling very good this morning."

I had lots of anxiety on the way,

thinking, what it's going to be like?

I fully understand that when you work long days, to prioritise this

is quite difficult, particularly

when you're told by health professionals

that you have to do it and it's key, and I want to make it that

-it's not a chore and it becomes a part of your switch-off time.

-Yeah.

With an understanding trainer on board,

Helen's gym phobias instantly evaporate.

You're doing very well.

I feel so much better than before I came.

I was so anxious but now I feel, um, I feel fine.

And as her inhibitions are shed, so are the pounds.

Over the course of the next three weeks, Helen loses a stone.

And her fear of the weighing scales

is replaced by daily moments of triumph.

Well, most days.

Oh, I've gone up!

It has gone up, it's gone up a pound.

The odd setback aside, and with just two weeks to go before Helen

revisits Dr Haboubi, she only needs to shed another 5lbs to reach

her ambitious target - to lose one and a half stones in eight weeks.

And as the weight disappears, so do the family's doubts.

I think my mum's done amazing. She's not letting herself down

or cheating in any way. I'm really proud of her for that.

I'm quite proud of her. We used to bond over food

and everything used to be over food but now it's over exercise.

Look at you flying!

It's definitely a transformation for my mum.

Finally, all's rosy in Helen's garden.

Or it was, until a callous passing remark

from a thoughtless teenager burst her bubble.

I was walking up the road on Saturday,

we'd been for a bike ride.

I'd had a very good day, I went to the gym in the morning

for an hour and then I did an hour's cycling to Blaenavon and back, so I

was feeling very good. And as I was walking up the road, a kid described

us...as...well, described me as fat.

Which, you know, that's kid speak, isn't it?

And I just thought, I've done all this, I've lost over a stone and

I'm feeling really good about myself, but to people who don't know me,

they still see me as a big person, because I've still got lots to lose,

so I have this sense of achievement, but actually to somebody

who doesn't know me very well, they don't see that effort.

So that was really hard and I think I was just at a really low ebb

and I came back and I just thought, "I just can't do this,"

and I really doubted myself.

It was really hurtful and if I said that I'm carrying on with it

but it's permanently, since then, dampened my mood down,

it's made me quite low and it's challenged what was starting to be

quite a positive self-image, it's challenged that a bit, if I'm honest.

It's just been really hard and, you know,

I can't say that I'm not pleased with the progress that I've made,

but I do feel very vulnerable at the moment.

I don't know, really.

Onwards and upwards, because I've got nowhere else to go, really.

It's difficult to not see yourself through other people's eyes.

It is very difficult.

Feeling vulnerable, Helen sees therapist Janet.

And maybe that comes back to childhood and...

I don't know, maybe it doesn't.

I mean, I'd like to be...

I'd like to say I was happy being me

but I'm not actually, at the moment, so I don't know what the answer is.

When you see yourself through other people's eyes,

how's that effected you in what you do and how you feel?

I think society is so judgmental about people.

I think society judges people on all sort of levels,

but I think that...size particularly

is a particularly discriminatory way of looking at people

and I think that people don't understand.

You can't say, "I feel down because I'm overweight."

Because people say, "Well, go on a diet then."

People don't understand how it can affect you so much,

and it's a vicious circle because sometimes, the more you feel down,

the more you comfort yourself with food because you can't buy

something nice to wear to cheer yourself up

because you can't find anything in your size,

so what mechanisms can you use to cheer yourself up?

You think, "I'll curl up with a book and a nice bar of chocolate,"

and self-soothe in that way.

So if you're going to fail,

if you feel it's not 100% improvement,

I do, I feel like, what's the point in carrying on with it?

I may as well stop.

Going back to self-esteem,

perhaps your self-esteem is around one of the things

you do like about yourself, is that you're a very good host,

you're a very good cook,

and here's everybody in the world telling you you've got to stop

-doing that, you can't do that, that's not good for you.

-Yeah.

And for me there's that real conundrum then,

because do I stop one of the things that I feel good about myself doing?

-Yeah.

-You know,

food, from how you describe it, plays a very different role

in your life because it has so many symbolic meanings for you.

It does, it does. That's exactly it. It does.

So it's not just about saying I'm happy to eat really healthy stuff

and I'm happy to cut out this and cut out that,

it's actually cutting out a bit of me as well, isn't it?

It certainly sounds like it from what we've talked about.

"You love me, you love my food."

Or rather, actually, it's, "You love food, you love me."

-Yeah.

-And I guess what I'm sort of throwing into the ring

is the risk that people might love you no matter what.

Whilst Helen continues to wrestle with the emotional side

of her journey, it was a physical event,

her severe heart arrthymia,

that set her on this course in the first place.

Helen has a device inserted into her chest

to record her arrthymia attacks.

Every two months, she goes to the Royal Gwent Hospital

to have the data analysed by the cardiology team.

-Hiya.

-Hiya, Helen, how are you?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-Come on through, take a seat.

-Thanks.

-How have you been doing?

-OK, I've had a couple of episodes.

I had a particularly bad one around March time.

I can't remember the exact date,

but I was really quite poorly with that one. But otherwise OK.

I think losing a bit of weight is helping as well.

OK, we'll have a little look at what the monitor has picked up as well.

OK.

I'm just having a periodic review of the loop recorder

that's planted inside my chest.

This thing then reads what's in the memory stick, as I call it,

and then it transmits all that data there

so that Matt can read it very easily.

He'll print it off and then we can sort of interpret what it says.

Did you have any episodes last week?

Yes, was it on the Saturday?

The 25th of May.

Actually it was a couple of days later I felt really, really rough.

I felt wiped out for a couple of days after that.

OK, so we can see that your heart went a little bit quicker

again at that time.

How much did it go up to?

Um, about 210 beats per minute.

-Ooh, that might be a record!

-Yeah.

The resting heart rate of most healthy adults

is between 60-100 beats per minute.

At 210 beats, Helen's most recent attack was over twice that.

However, when she was hospitalised in March,

the data shows that her heart rate got even higher.

OK.

So what we've seen, Helen, is that your heart rate was going

quite quickly anyway, but we've seen it go up to a point where it

does speed up to about 230 beats per minute.

OK?

So we'll obviously give this information to the consultant

and let them know, so keep them up-to-date with everything.

But we've seen the arrhythmia we've seen in the past anyway,

so I don't think it's anything new,

it's not anything more concerning, it's just information that we've

already got, but we'll obviously let them know anyway, all right?

OK, that's lovely.

You know, it's not life-threatening, but I know that it can get worse

to a point where it then could be.

It's just a very clear reminder that all is not well

and I've got to do something about it.

So after a couple of days in the doldrums,

and now a short, sharp medical shock,

Helen's decided it's high time she got back on track, quite literally.

Today is...

In a moment of folly I decided that to spur myself on

and keep myself motivated,

I decided that I would do a fun run.

But when I say fun run, well, there's two things there - fun and run

don't go together anyway and it's more likely to be a fun brisk walk,

but that's fine because it's better than doing nothing.

So it's over 5km, although there is the option of doing ten,

which won't be happening,

and I've got some suitable attire for the occasion as well,

so my main worry is not that I won't make it,

not that I'll be at the back - don't worry about either of those things

because I think it's better to take part than not do it at all.

My worry is that I'll be the only one in costume, that is a worry.

Helen is hoping to raise money for the Gwent Cardiology Department.

Thank you very much for attending today.

Of course, the intention is to raise funds for the cardiology department.

This will be Helen's first ever attempt at a fun run.

And arguably, she's slightly over-dressed for the occasion.

Why do I have these ideas?

Why do I do it to myself?

So that nobody can recognise me...

But at least she's got the family's wholehearted support.

I don't even know who you are any more.

-DAUGHTER:

-She looks an absolute fool. Oh, my God, she looks ridiculous.

I'm actually embarrassed of her.

-ANNOUNCER:

-Are you ready for the start?

Oh, my God, I'm going to die.

I think she's very brave for doing this.

-ANNOUNCER:

-Good luck, Helen!

-Thank you!

She said she's going to be dead at the end.

-HUSBAND:

-Hopefully not, it's supposed to be a fun run, Jen.

-She said she was going to be dead.

-Well, metaphorically.

I don't want to run it, because I can't run it.

But I don't want to stroll it because there'd be no point.

She should have run it. Why would you do a fun run and walk?

That's ridiculous.

I'm feeling the strain now.

I think she's killing herself softly.

And despite all the doubters, Helen eventually romps home

in a sedate one hour and 45 minutes.

Well done, you!

Congratulations, Helen! You've worked hard for that.

Thank you very much. I did.

I'll put you down for the 10k next year. Thank you, Helen.

Thank you.

Oh, my first medal ever. I'm quite choked.

-Well done, Mum.

-Thank you, and thank you for nagging me.

Having met the 5k challenge with determination,

if not dignity, Helen's next target looms larger still -

has she got anywhere near meeting Dr Haboubi's 1.5st challenge?

It's showdown day.

This is my new, slightly more streamlined me

ready to face Dr Haboubi and show him what I've done since

I saw him last, which is two months ago today.

I'll be very interested to see what his reaction is.

I hope it's good. I'm a bit nervous. No, I'm very nervous.

The target Helen set herself two months ago was to lose 9kg,

or 1.5st, by the time she returned to see Dr Haboubi.

108.2. Well done!

That's excellent.

Thank you.

17st and half a pound.

Yes!

SHE LAUGHS

Fabulous! Well done.

My scales at home are three pounds heavier than that.

Oh, my God, that's a stone and a half off.

Yeah, it is.

Oh, that's fantastic. This is the best day out ever.

Now for Dr Haboubi's verdict.

You've lost 10kg.

Fantastic.

-Thank you!

-Congratulations.

Thank you.

No, I haven't done anything. It's you who's done the job.

What changes have you made?

You told me to sweat, so I've been sweating.

-I've joined a belly-dance class...

-Good.

-..and I've joined the Exercise

Referral Scheme. I've got myself a new bike, I've been walking.

-I love belly-dancing, it's quite energetic.

-Yeah.

We've not had one takeaway since I saw you last.

How do you feel now you've lost so much weight?

Most of the time, great.

There are times when it is really hard.

-Yes, I'm not surprised. But it's a long way to go.

-Yeah.

It's a continuous process,

-it's a process for the rest of your life.

-Yeah.

-But I think you can do it.

-Yeah.

-And you have to it.

-Yes.

-And you're determined to do it. Yes or no?

Yes!

-Well done.

-Thank you.

I wish Warren had been here to hear that. He'd have been so proud.

It's just...it's just brilliant.

And I don't even feel like I've done really well

so I want to eat something naughty to celebrate and treat myself.

I actually feel that I want to keep going even more now.

That's been more motivational than anything that's happened.

I'm quite proud of myself.

Just ten weeks ago, Helen Whewell was lying in a hospital bed

wondering how her life and lifestyle had gone so drastically wrong.

At just 44 years of age, she'd been diagnosed as morbidly obese,

and with a debilitating heart condition that couldn't be

addressed until she lost a significant amount of weight.

It's at those moments where you think have I left it too late to change?

But what a difference ten weeks can make.

-It may have been daunting...

-What if I can't do it?

-..difficult...

-You need to go to the gym class, whatever anyone else says.

..intense...

It gets me sometimes, but perhaps it has to,

for me to make those changes.

..but ultimately...

17st and half a pound.

Yes!

..it's been rewarding.

And with the help of professional experts...

No, no, you can't have it both ways.

..Helen is on her own path to diet and lifestyle enlightenment.

It's a journey that still has a long, long way to run.

But significant strides have been made.

And they continue to be made.

It's July the 8th, Helen's 45th birthday.

And in celebration of this, and the fact that she has now lost

just over two stones in weight,

husband Warren's got a birthday surprise.

I've got a special gift, I think we can call it.

He's a lot bigger than I thought he was going to be

but I think she's going to be delighted

because he's got the soppiest eyes I think I've ever seen.

Is that them?

Where's me salad?

Bit more than a salad now.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God!

Oh, my God!

That's right, Helen, it's a Bassett hound.

Oh!

He's worth every minute of the diet. Every minute.

Hello, young man!

I was promised one of these if I lost weight and here he is,

and we're going to have to give you a name.

Oh, my God.

I think we should call him Haboubi.

Hector Haboubi Hunter Whewell, to be precise.

And no special birthday is complete without a special birthday cake.

It's lard!

It is!

SHE LAUGHS

And that's how much weight you've lost.

Oh, no!

2st of lard and that's what you've lost.

13, 14, 15, 16...

WARREN LAUGHS

50 blocks of lard I've lost.

That's not bad going in nine weeks, is it?

Isn't that amazing?

And I was carrying that around every day

-and it's almost too heavy to lift.

-Yeah.

It's falling apart now, so be careful.

You can't even lift it. That is just...

Next year you'll have one like that.

That much taller again.

And it's horrible and it's all gloopy.

And somebody told me at the gym

that the first place that you lose fat from

is around your internal organs.

When you lose weight, before you lose it from anywhere visible,

it's around your internal organs.

All that used to be inside me. Oh, my God.

It's no wonder I was tired all of the time. It's no wonder

my body was under strain carrying around all that time.

So that is really visually impacting

and I wish almost that you could feel how heavy that actually is

because I was carrying that around all the time.

Slice of cake, anyone?

I can't take sole credit for anything I've achieved.

It's the glorious Dr Haboubi.

-Well, he's put me off everything like takeaways for life.

-Yes.

And the appointment wasn't even for me.

Yes, the swine!

You know, I can't take credit for it.

Yes, OK, I've done the work, but it's been a team effort,

it's been a family effort.

I think as a family, I think everyone's really been behind me.

And I think at times there's been nice love,

tough love, motivation, there's been tears,

there's been laughter and I think it's a journey.

We're not there yet, we're not at the end.

It's ongoing, so there'll probably be more tears, more laughter,

more quarrels, more angst,

but what I am certain of is that when I stand here this time next year,

that's going to be significantly bigger

and I'm going to be significantly smaller.

And finally, what about Helen's heart?

I'm still going to get this heart thing sorted.

That's what got me on this journey in the first place,

was the need to address that, and I will address that,

but it's almost become less important as well. I can't really explain it.

It's become secondary. Everything's become secondary

to this just general well-being.

And you know, I know now that if I'm ready for surgery,

it's going to be safer and I think that's lifted my mood as well.

I'm much more positive about the future because I can actually

see a future, whereas possibly not so much before.