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EACH�WEEK��THE�INTREPID�JOURNALIST�BARES�HER�SOUL
C O L U M N
DAWN PORTER shares…
Weighty issues really
aren’t rocket science
am an apple. I would
rather be a pear because
I think big bums are really
I sexy but I’m not, I’m an
apple and that’s just how
it is. I have come to accept it. I am 5ft
9in tall, a size 12 and, on average,
I weigh 10 stone. However, up until
about seven years ago I averaged out
at 11 and a half stone. Which, due to my
aforementioned apple formation, was
not particularly flattering – I looked
like a darts player. I was a little
uncomfortable in myself, and always
felt somewhat bloated.
Despite my parents feeding me
a well-balanced diet when I was
a teenager (mixed with the rubbish
I ate when I went to school, but we
don’t talk about that), when I flew the
nest and started to feed myself full-time
my diet was shocking. SHOCKING.
Like most students I lived off cheap
white bread, pasta, cheese and crisps,
and I was not aware of this thing they
call exercise. I didn’t think much about
nutrition, I thought about flavour (mainly
salt) and volume (mainly massive). Was it
any wonder I piled on the pounds and
then didn’t feel particularly great about
myself? Not really.
Through necessity rather than
intention I was forced to change my
dietary habits when, around five years
ago, I became quite ill in the form of
severe stomach pains. After a scary
trip to A&E, many scans, blood tests
and examinations, it turned out that
I had a wheat intolerance.
As much as I tried to deny it by
cramming umpteen muffins in my mouth
at once, I couldn’t. Refined wheat had
to be a thing of the past.
So I cut it out. I swapped all my white
bread and pasta for rye bread and rice
pasta and I also cut right down on dairy
as that proved to aggravate me too.
Five years later and I still eat like
a horse (a big horse) but I weigh 10
stone and couldn’t be more honest
when I say that I don’t have to diet to
maintain it. I just eat the foods that my
body seems to work well with and that
is it. Sure, I relapse loads but if I stick to
what my body likes 80% of the time,
I don’t put on weight. It isn’t rocket
salad, sorry, I mean science, is it?
I have seen for myself the effects a
subtle shift in diet can have, and the
massive results that can be reaped,
so I get infuriated with celebs who
promote themselves off the back
of a crash diet. If you ask me, it isn’t
about weight loss at all, it is about
revamping a career. Faces you recognise
but would never know the names of
suddenly become household names and
front-page regulars due to the size of
their bodies. Doesn’t that seem sad to
you? But what is sadder is the lifestyle
these celebs need to adopt in order
to look like this. It is so extreme and
unrealistic that months later they are
once more back on the front page, but
this time with all the weight piled back
“I didn’t think about nutrition.
I thought about flavour (mainly
salt) and volume (mainly massive)”
on. Then we watch them go through
the whole process all over again,
spilling all the details to the press
to ensure more column inches.
The thing is, I’m all for wanting
to look good. I’m obsessed with
that myself, but I believe it is
achievable for everyone. With
a bit of realism and balance,
though, it’s not about being
self-absorbed. It’s that
which makes people
unattractive, whether
they’re fat or thin.
Email Dawn at dawn.porter
@stylist.co.uk
I’m a self
confessed
Twitter
addict
and it’s
mainly due to the hilarity
of one man: Peter
Serafinowicz (aka@
serafinowicz). He writes a
stream of one-liners that
have me in stitches all day.
Due to his genius Tweets
his DVD just topped the
charts. An example of his
ramblings? “Think I’m
going to miss Avatar at
the cinema. I’ll just wait
for the audiobook.”
Pahaha! You should follow
him, but don’t expect to
get any work done.
LAST�CHANCE�
SALOON�
I loved Stephen Fry’s series
Last Chance To See on
BBC2. If you missed it on
TV, you can get it now on
DVD. His adventures show
some of the most amazing
animals on
the planet,
who are
now, sadly,
under
threat.
However,
STEPHEN FRY:
NOT EXTINCT,
THANKFULLY
TWITTER: SIGN UP FOR
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF
WIT AND WISDOM
Here’s the
thing…
under threat
or not, some
breeds are
determined
to live every
day like it’s their last. My
fave was one very (sexually)
excited parrot!
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