For most women in midlife, looking back at photographs taken decades earlier brings a familiar pang of nostalgia. We study the younger version of ourselves and wish we’d realised at the time how slim and fresh-faced we were.
But when I look at pictures of myself in my 20s – dressed in frumpy clothes that hid the body I hated – I wish the overweight, deeply unconfident young woman staring back at me could somehow know what the future had in store. That 30 years on she’d be transformed to such an extent she’d happily slip into a bikini without a second thought.
Because the truth is that today, now aged 53, I look and feel so much better than I ever did in my 20s, or at any other stage of my life.
Most people assume that by the time a woman reaches her 50s, her best years are behind her – that it’s all a slow decline from here and that you’ll have less energy, less confidence and fewer opportunities. And that you’ll start to look as old as you feel.
But for me it’s been the complete opposite. My 50s have been a time of reinvention, and I’ve honestly never looked better.
Since 2022, I’ve lost more than six stone and now have the body I’d always longed for.
I’ve even found the confidence to start dating again after eight years of focusing solely on raising my children and caring for my mum as she battled Alzheimer’s. I’ve been seeing someone for ten months, and he makes me really happy. He finds it hard to relate old pictures of me with how good I look now.
My struggles with weight go back to childhood. By the time I was at primary school, I was already bigger than most of the other children and it didn’t take long for the teasing to begin.
Lisa Maidment began to struggle with her weight during childhood. I still remember the shame I felt when I heard the other kids call me ‘thunder thighs’, she writes
When I look at pictures of myself in my 20s I wish the overweight, deeply unconfident young woman staring back at me could somehow know what the future had in store, Lisa says
I still remember the shame I felt when I heard the other kids call me ‘thunder thighs’.
I never felt part of the cool crowd. I couldn’t wear the fashionable clothes my friends wore and I often felt awkward and self-conscious about my body.
At 16, I was already a size 18, and my weight went up and down constantly over the following years. Throughout my 20s and 30s, I would veer anywhere between 11st and 15st. And with every fluctuation my confidence rose and fell with it.
Food was always on my mind. I was always planning the next meal, the next snack, the next thing that might make me feel satisfied.
It felt more like there was a kind of void inside me I was trying to fill, and no matter how much I ate it never quite worked.
Hating how I looked seeped into everything else – how I dressed, how I carried myself and even what I believed I deserved from life.
On the outside, I was functioning perfectly well. I had a good job in marketing and a busy social life. But inside I never truly felt comfortable in my own skin.
Later, as a single mum raising my two children, Lewis, now 13, and Chloe, ten, while also caring for my mother as her dementia worsened, my own health fell even further down my list of priorities.
Ironically, during that time I was working as a weight-loss consultant, my own size yo-yo’ing even as I helped other women slim for good. I hated being overweight, but felt trapped in a cycle of dieting on and off.
Throughout her 20s and 30s, Lisa would veer anywhere between 11st and 15st. And with every fluctuation her confidence rose and fell with it
Approaching her 50th birthday, and seeing the scales tip to 16 stone with her size 22 clothes straining to fit, everything changed and Lisa took control
Everything changed as I approached my 50th birthday. In the summer of 2022, standing in front of the mirror and seeing the scales tip to 16 stone, my size 22 clothes straining to fit, I had a moment of clarity.
I realised I had spent years telling other people they could change their lives, yet I wasn’t practising what I preached. Seeing my clients’ impressive losses inspired me to do something for myself.
So at 49, I took control. This time I didn’t set myself a target weight or a deadline. As someone who had helped countless women lose weight, I knew that being healthy isn’t really about a number on the scales. It’s about how you feel.
Instead, I focused on changing the way I lived. I wanted to be a better example to my children and I didn’t want to become a burden to them through ill health as I grew older.
I overhauled my eating habits, cut out the constant grazing on biscuits, crisps and takeaways that had become routine, and gradually replaced them with structured meals and healthier choices. Within months, the weight began to fall away.
By the time I turned 50 in January 2023, I had lost five stone. A few months later, I weighed around nine and a half stone – lighter than I’d been since my teens.
As my body changed, so did my confidence. I began going to the gym and discovered a passion for weight training, relishing the feeling of becoming stronger each week.
Nowadays, I fast until lunchtime, then have something like a high protein bagel, with beans and cheese or an omelette with meat or vegetables for lunch.
My evening meal will be chicken curry, chilli, spaghetti bolognaise or a lean chicken breast, either with vegetables or a small portion of rice or pasta.
She overhauled her lifestyle and by the time she turned 50 in January 2023, had lost five stone. A few months later, Lisa weighed around nine and a half stone
‘Wearing a bikini – even just looking in the mirror – I feel sexy, powerful and full of life. I feel so much pride in how much younger and more vibrant I look’
If I treat myself to an occasional glass of wine, then I don’t eat any carbs that day. And I still allow myself to enjoy the occasional chocolate bar.
After my mum died, I received a generous £200,000 inheritance from her estate, and I made a decision that some people might find surprising.
I did all the sensible things first. I paid off a substantial chunk of my mortgage, set money aside for my children’s education and took them on the Disney World trip my mum had always dreamed of taking them on herself.
But I also chose to spend a small portion of it on something just for me.
In December 2024, I travelled to Lithuania for cosmetic surgery, including a tummy tuck, breast lift with implants and an eyelift, costing around £8,000 in total.
For me this wasn’t about vanity. It was about finally becoming the best version of myself, inside and out. Wearing a bikini – even just looking in the mirror – now, I feel sexy, powerful and full of life – I feel so much pride in how much younger and more vibrant I look, and how fit and healthy I feel.
I know Mum would be so proud of me. My only sadness now is that she isn’t here to see this newly confident version of her daughter.
And when I look at a photograph of the young woman I once was, the one who hid behind loose clothes and never believed she could feel truly confident in her body, I wish I could whisper to her: ‘Just wait. The best is yet to come.’
As told to Rachel Halliwell. Additional reporting: Matthew Barbour
Lisa is a consultant for the 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan. Her Instagram account is: @_lisamaidment
