But the 40-year-old, who has shed over two stone since September, has an unusual ally in her battle against the bulge - a saline-filled balloon inserted into her stomach.

The balloon partly fills her stomach and creates a feeling of fullness which helps her to shed the pounds. It is intended as a 'kickstart' to long-term weight loss.

Clare, a mother of two, has waged a long battle on her weight and was beginning to despair of ever getting it under control.
Since her wedding in 1995, when she weighed a svelte nine-and-a-half stone, she gradually piled on the pounds and was shocked to find last year that she tipped the scales at 14-and-a-half stone.

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A series of traumatic events, such as a relative's cancer diagnosis, and discovering one of her nine-year-old twin boys, Jack, was autistic, led her down the path of comfort eating.

People must change lifestyles

That, combined with irregular eating patterns due to her work as a nurse, eating big portions, and tucking regularly into puddings, pies and pizza, all added up to a big weight gain.

"I tried to lose weight but I lost two stone over two years and then put it back on again," said Clare, of Charnock, Sheffield.

The theatre nurse decided to have an intragastric balloon fitted after seeing how it worked for patients at the Claremont Hospital in Sandygate where she works.

"I knew as soon as I saw it being done it was the thing for me," said Clare. "I felt it would give me a kickstart to losing weight."

She borrowed £4,500 to pay for the treatment privately, and says it's been worth every penny so far.

Clare had no worries about having the non-surgical procedure - done as an endoscopy where a doctor uses a camera on the end of a tube to go down the throat to look at the inside of the stomach to spot signs of disease or abnormalities.

While the patient is under sedation a deflated balloon is passed down too, and then inflated with a saline blue dye and sealed.
Clare was able to go home the same day, and was soon over the side-effects of nausea and stomach cramps.

The balloon will stay in place for six months, during which time Clare is retraining her eating habits.

Crucially she is receiving 12 months of support and advice on nutrition from health professionals, aimed at helping her to understand why there is a desire to over-eat, and how to break habits from childhood like the need to 'clear your plate'.

Already she is eating smaller portions and has improved the nutritional value of what she eats.

"I used to eat toast and cereal for breakfast but I am now satisfied and happy with fruit and yoghurt," she said. "It has made a difference, as I feeler fuller sooner so eat smaller amounts."

She has swapped a mid-morning stack of biscuits for a piece of crispbread topped with cottage cheese, and for lunch she has a small sandwich - ditching the crisps and chocolate that once accompanied it.

An evening meal of pie, chips and pudding has been switched for fish and veg.

Clare has taken up swimming two or three times a week - and is determined to reach her own personal goal by the summer.

"Last year on holiday in Portugal I wore a T-shirt in the swimming pool over my swimming costume as I felt so embarrassed," she cringes.

"This year it's going to be different. I won't be wearing the T-shirt."

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