Food was always a coping mechanism for me, which I used to numb all my emotions – happiness as well as sadness.

As a child, I comfort-ate to cope with my Dad’s anger issues and stresses in the household about money and later on I used it to cope with the pressures of career and fame. The resulting weight I carried became a protection and a barrier to connection and intimacy. I also made millions of dollars being an overweight comedienne.

But I would feel down about myself and my shameful secret of engaging in unhealthy behaviours. Even though I would start the day off by going to the gym, I couldn’t break the cycle of comfort eating in the evening and would find myself mindlessly eating pizza and ice cream after work. I couldn’t even handle a good mood – I’d have to eat to dampen it down.

I tried the New Year’s resolutions, went to a couple of health resorts and tried some diets, but nothing was sustainable and I shamed myself for not having the willpower to stick to anything.

Even though I’m all up for body positivity and all bodies being beautiful, as I got close to 40 I started to have concerns about my weight and habits leading to disease, especially as my dad had suffered from diabetes.

The real kicker for change was finding a doctor who dealt with how your emotions affect your physical health. This was one thing I had never investigated – talking about emotions in my family was a no-no when I was growing up. But it was those emotions that were making me eat in a disordered way.

The first few months were difficult, because all the things I’d been suppressing came up. Then I learned to process and manage my emotions without the help of food. I had to face a lot of sadness that I’d been hiding from, as well as unresolved issues with (and anger towards) my father.

As I processed the emotions the weight came off. I was exercising and eating healthily as well, but processing the emotions allowed me to pursue the healthy behaviours. If you’re an emotional eater, like I was, there’s no magic pill, or diet, the answer is literally to deal with the emotional reasons of why you act that way.

As told to Fearne Cotton on the Happy Place podcast ©Happy Place