As I zip up the fat suit, I look in the mirror and don’t recognise the big person looking back at me. This suit has doubled my clothes size – from a 10 to a size 18/20. In rough terms, if I was this size, I would have gained six stone.

First impressions aren’t all bad though – joy of joys, I finally have a magnificent bosom!

With the prosthetic make-up, I also have a fuller face and neck. After staring for a little while, I conclude that I still look like me, just an older version.

Obesity affects everyone, whether you are in that category, are avoiding it, or are paying for it.

Almost a quarter of Greater Manchester’s adults are obese, higher than the national average. At BBC Radio Manchester, we decided to spend today, Fat Friday, talking about and investigating obesity issues. These include the health implications as well as our attitudes and possible prejudice towards those that are overweight.

I go shopping for food, to Manchester Arndale along with Charlie Walduck from Failsworth, who famously lost 30 stone under the expert eye of Dr Chris Steele for ITV’s This Morning.

When he was at his heaviest, he had to endure stares, nudges and outright rudeness. Being out in public was a terrible trial.

People would think nothing of shouting abuse out of car windows and strangers would look in his shopping trolley in the supermarket and say ‘I’m not surprised you’re fat’.

His emotions veered from sadness to anger and he wonders, to this day, why overweight people are seen as fair game.

I am, by no means, huge, but I am considerably bigger than before and feel incredibly self conscious. I walk through the mall with my head down, not wanting to make eye contact with strangers. Last time I was here, nobody noticed me. Now I feel that I am being watched.

Humiliating

It’s lunchtime and I’m feeling hungry. I queue up for a sandwich, but feel guilty about the crisps that I buy and when I sit down to eat my lunch, I notice a couple watching and laughing at me. I eat a couple of mouthfuls and leave the rest.

For Charlie, old habits die hard, and after four years of battling with his food addiction and keeping his weight firmly in check, he will only have a cup of tea. He explains that if he ate in public, he would sit in a quiet corner of the café and only choose somewhere with waiter service for fear of hurtful comments. More often, he would go hungry, and then gorge on food for comfort, when he got home, alone.

If I was a smoker, I feel that people would be far more tolerant.

I speak to one shopper and explain what I’m doing. She says that she’s been obese for all her adult life and she used a very powerful word to describe her emotions when she’s out shopping – shame.

Talking to others who have battled with weight issues, I keep hearing the Pretty Woman analogy. There are certain shops where you wouldn’t dream of crossing the threshold, because the looks and comments that you get are humiliating.

To hit the shops – another trial – I am joined by Barbara Hadfield. She was a size 18 for much of her adult life and explains that the ranges are very limited. I find plenty of tops that I like, but struggle to find them in my size. Again, I feel that I’m being stared at, or am I being too sensitive?

I certainly don’t imagine the looks of amazement when I walk into a sports shop. Any thoughts of exercise could have ended there and then.

I feel happier amongst people my size, in shops that cater for the larger lady, and yet I struggle to find any clothes that are trendy.

Just because I’m a few sizes bigger, why do I have to dress like somebody 20 years older?

Finally, I go to the gym. I feel distinctly uncomfortable, as though I shouldn’t be there. I walk into the exercise area and a group of men, who are focused on the body beautiful, have a good look at me.

However I am heartened to see that there are individual changing rooms and when I manage to have a proper look round, I see there are other women there who are my size and that makes me feel less out of place. And, I am reminded by a personal trainer that, just because somebody is a bigger size, it doesn’t mean that they are less healthy than somebody who is slim.

I’d started this day in high spirits, unsure of the truth of society’s dim view of the overweight.

But by the time I’m taking off my prosthetic make-up and fat suit, I feel weary, cold and upset.

Two of the great pleasures in my life, shopping and eating out, were painful experiences today.

I think back to something Charlie told me – that overweight people are perceived as unintelligent, lazy and out of control.

On today’s evidence, I find it hard to disagree with him.

• Becky Want presents a show on BBC Radio Manchester from 2pm to 4pm every weekday.