Claire started slimming down so she could squeeze into a plane seat and go on her dream holiday abroad for the first time but her extreme dieting has left her very thin and terrified of food.She once lived off a diet of takeaways, chocolate, and crisps but is now petrified of eating even the healthiest of fruit and veg. After a two year battle Claire is currently hospitalised and is desperate to warn others of the dangers associated with extreme weight loss.
"I want to warn others to be careful what they wish for, when I started losing weight I really wanted to be thin but now I'm miserable and dangerously underweight.
"I've always been a larger than life character full of love and happiness but now I feel less confident than ever before.
"At first I thought I was just being healthy as I was overweight but no matter how many pounds I lost I could just see a fat person in the mirror. "I tried every fad diet until I stopped eating all together and spent all my time looking at hidden sugars in food and exercising at least three times a day.
"Even when I was eating just an apple a day I kept thinking I was right and everyone else was stupid for eating so much.
"I don't want to be fat, but I've never felt so unhappy, I'd do anything to feel like the old bubbly me again.
"But I'm scared that if I start eating I will wake up one day and be a size-32 again.
"I thought eating disorders were for teenagers, I want the public to know that anorexia can affect anyone and any time.
"This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me and a few years ago I would've never believed I could be as poorly as I am today."
Claire Huxtable and wife Faith Huxtable
After the dramatic weight loss Claire went for a tummy tuck to get rid of excess skin in a bid to make herself thinner.
Claire said: "I never saw my weight as being a problem, and I definitely wasn't interested in being active or losing weight.
"I'd wanted to go abroad for so long but had always worried I wouldn't fit in a seat.
"After losing so much weight and now weighing seven stone I decided to finally treat myself.
"I'd lost so much weight though and wore a bandana because of my sunburn on holiday – everyone kept staring, I think they thought I was dying because I looked so thin.
"I did enjoy myself but I was so frail that I kept on passing out and falling over, it was a real eye opener.
"I got home and had a massive break down so my wife, Faith, 36, marched me off to the doctors."
Claire was gobsmacked when doctors told her she was anorexic and now has a torturous battle with her eating disorder every day.
Claire said: "I never even thought anorexia was a possibility. "I thought I just had a little problem and I want others to realise the early symptoms before it's too late.
"I'm trying to get better so I can get my old life back, anorexia has sucked all of the fun out of everything.
"I miss my job so much, it was so rewarding working with the children and I hope when I'm well enough one day I'll be able to return.
"I can't thank my wonderful wife Faith enough for standing by me, as well as my amazing friends and family. "I'm now taking every day as it comes and just concentrating on getting better.
"I would never wish this on my worst enemy, anorexia has destroyed my life."
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