Episode 10 - Jo Cotton
Jo Cotton is a successful 35-year-old career woman from Essex, who as a self-confessed chocoholic, naturally loves her job as a confectionary buyer. Unfortunately, at 5ft 8 and weighing 20st 5lb, her job is not doing her waistline any favours.
Jo is successful at work, has a neat and tidy home, and is in control of everything in her life, in fact - apart from her eating habits. She works long days, so as well as snacking on chocolate all day, she eats on the hoof and lives on convenience food.
Surrounded by temptation all day long, Jo can either get a new job or let Gillian McKeith into her life. She goes for the tough way and opens her kitchen cupboards to Gillian’s scrutiny. Gillian is horrified when all she finds are biscuits and ready-meals, and absolutely no ‘real’ food. One cupboard is crammed full of over the counter medicines, and Jo confesses that she often feels run down.
Gillian tells Jo to keep a food diary for a week. It includes 47 chocolates, 3 packets of sweets and 8 ready meals. Gillian confronts Jo with her bad food table, and tells her it is outrageous. She is even more alarmed when Jo says that there is a history of diabetes in her family. Gillian is particularly concerned about the number of calories Jo is consuming so she shows her the calorific equivalent of her monthly sweet treats in jugs of melted chocolate – enough for 103 bars of chocolate.
Next Jo gets Gillian’s holistic once-over. She looks at her tongue and notices it has a line down the middle, cuts and a mucky coating. Gillian says she suspects that Jo suffers from bloating and Jo tells her that she only has fizzy drinks and does burp a lot.
Gillian consults Dr Sanj who tells her that given Jo’s weight, he is concerned that she is at risk from diabetes. Gillian tells him that she is determined to get Jo into a new healthier lifestyle.
Gillian creates a new diet for Jo based on fresh juices, leafy greens and high-fibre grains, and once Jo has consulted her GP, introduces her to her new food future. Jo says it looks delicious but is concerned about the seeds and pulses. Gillian delivers the news that there is to be no chocolate for the 8 weeks, but softens the blow by telling Jo she has designed the food plan to keep sweet cravings away, and shows her how to add sweetness to her diet with fresh fruit salad for breakfast and brown rice which can have a sweet taste if chewed for a long time.
Jo Cotton is a successful 35-year-old career woman from Essex, who as a self-confessed chocoholic, naturally loves her job as a confectionary buyer. Unfortunately, at 5ft 8 and weighing 20st 5lb, her job is not doing her waistline any favours.
Jo is successful at work, has a neat and tidy home, and is in control of everything in her life, in fact - apart from her eating habits. She works long days, so as well as snacking on chocolate all day, she eats on the hoof and lives on convenience food.
Surrounded by temptation all day long, Jo can either get a new job or let Gillian McKeith into her life. She goes for the tough way and opens her kitchen cupboards to Gillian’s scrutiny. Gillian is horrified when all she finds are biscuits and ready-meals, and absolutely no ‘real’ food. One cupboard is crammed full of over the counter medicines, and Jo confesses that she often feels run down.
Gillian tells Jo to keep a food diary for a week. It includes 47 chocolates, 3 packets of sweets and 8 ready meals. Gillian confronts Jo with her bad food table, and tells her it is outrageous. She is even more alarmed when Jo says that there is a history of diabetes in her family. Gillian is particularly concerned about the number of calories Jo is consuming so she shows her the calorific equivalent of her monthly sweet treats in jugs of melted chocolate – enough for 103 bars of chocolate.
Next Jo gets Gillian’s holistic once-over. She looks at her tongue and notices it has a line down the middle, cuts and a mucky coating. Gillian says she suspects that Jo suffers from bloating and Jo tells her that she only has fizzy drinks and does burp a lot.
Gillian consults Dr Sanj who tells her that given Jo’s weight, he is concerned that she is at risk from diabetes. Gillian tells him that she is determined to get Jo into a new healthier lifestyle.
Gillian creates a new diet for Jo based on fresh juices, leafy greens and high-fibre grains, and once Jo has consulted her GP, introduces her to her new food future. Jo says it looks delicious but is concerned about the seeds and pulses. Gillian delivers the news that there is to be no chocolate for the 8 weeks, but softens the blow by telling Jo she has designed the food plan to keep sweet cravings away, and shows her how to add sweetness to her diet with fresh fruit salad for breakfast and brown rice which can have a sweet taste if chewed for a long time.
Day one, and porridge is not a hit with Jo, but a few days in to the diet and her organisational skills are shining through and she is preparing all her meals the night before and taking them to work in a cool bag. With a bowl of seeds on her desk, she is managing to steer clear of chocolates at work and is not missing any of her old foods.
Week two and Jo tells Gillian that she has a 3-day chocolate convention to attend. Gillian is so concerned about how Jo will cope that she initially tells her she’s going too. In the end, she settles for showing Jo a recipe for date and carob treats to keep temptation at bay, and allows Jo to go unchaperoned. Jo sails through the event and with the help of a stash of fruit, does not falter.
Come week 5, Gillian insists that Jo starts some gentle exercise and shows how to hula hoop, which is great for improving flexibility.
When Gillian returns for her final inspection 8 weeks later she is delighted to see that Jo has lost over 2 stone and is radiant. She says that she realises that she had been kidding herself about her diet and all she had to do was apply the same process that she uses for all the other elements of her life. At work, she sees the chocolates as ‘product’ now, not a yummy treat. She tells Gillian that she has a long way to go but she has had one hell of a start!
Week two and Jo tells Gillian that she has a 3-day chocolate convention to attend. Gillian is so concerned about how Jo will cope that she initially tells her she’s going too. In the end, she settles for showing Jo a recipe for date and carob treats to keep temptation at bay, and allows Jo to go unchaperoned. Jo sails through the event and with the help of a stash of fruit, does not falter.
Come week 5, Gillian insists that Jo starts some gentle exercise and shows how to hula hoop, which is great for improving flexibility.
When Gillian returns for her final inspection 8 weeks later she is delighted to see that Jo has lost over 2 stone and is radiant. She says that she realises that she had been kidding herself about her diet and all she had to do was apply the same process that she uses for all the other elements of her life. At work, she sees the chocolates as ‘product’ now, not a yummy treat. She tells Gillian that she has a long way to go but she has had one hell of a start!
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