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Too fat to sit on a chair: Weight loss story

July 29, 2015 by Lucy Needham

Teresa was too fat to sit on a chair! Read her incredible weight loss story. We secured Teresa an exclusive deal with Take a Break magazine to share her journey.

Kissing my mum, Teresa, 39, goodnight, it was off to bed I popped. “Night mum.” Night Kayleigh. Don’t forget you have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow,” she said back.

“How could I forget,” I mumbled to myself. I got into bed, pulled the covers up to my cheek and snuggled into my duvet with a sleepy smile on my face. Even though I missed him, It was lovely knowing I wouldn’t be woken up by my little boy, Riley, 2, as he was staying at his dad’s. As I turned my lamp off, I heard a terrible bang and felt the bed collapse beneath me.

I tumbled off my bed into a rolling mess on the floor. My bed was at a lopsided angle, the slats had broken and the legs snapped clean in two on the side I was laying. “Not again?” I thought to myself. I heard all of the crockery clatter together in the cupboards in the kitchen below and my mum came rushing up the stairs.

“Oh dear Kayleigh. Are you okay?” she gasped. “I’m fine,” I said rolling around on the floor, attempting to pick myself up. “I’ve just broken my bed. Again.”

Mortified, I grabbed a stack of books and wedged them under the broken side of the bed frame, and tentatively got back into bed. I kept waking throughout the night – my rolls of skin chaffing against one another and chin felt as though it was suffocating me. “Surely this shouldn’t be happening at 21,” I thought to myself.

In the morning I picked up my son and made my way, slowly to the doctors, pushing Riley in his pram. “I’m glad you’re here Riley, your pram is supporting me,” I said, gasping for breath. As I sat in the waiting room I took up nearly two chairs. I was embarrassed as my fat flowed onto another seat, preventing anyone else from sitting down next to me.

“Kayleigh Rampling?” called the doctor. She looked me up and down and gave a forced smile. “How are you today, Kayleigh?” The doctor asked. “I’m okay,” I said, feeling ashamed. “Jump on the scales, please, and after I’ll take your blood pressure,” she said calmly. As I took off my shoes to jump on the scales, my heart pumped in my chest.

I looked down at the horrific double figure starting back at me. “19 and a half stone?!” I knew I was big but I had no idea my weight had gotten so out of control. I looked down over my bulging belly and was literally gobsmacked. “I only thought I was around 13-14 stone,” I explained to the doctor, humiliated. I was hoping she’d reply, telling me her scales were on the fritz or something, but no such luck.

I guess I always wear a size 24 clothing, but never once did I think I was so large. I left the surgery six and a half stone heavier than I thought I was. I also had a higher blood pressure than normal, and my BMI was sky high. All I wanted to do was cry. I sat down on the wall outside the doctors and felt ashamed of myself. I looked down at my beautiful little boy. He gave me a cheeky smile, poked my belly and laughed.

“Could this day get any worse?” I said rolling my eyes. I was off back home to my mum’s for a BBQ. I couldn’t wait to eat my sorrows away and tuck into some burgers, cheesy chips, dips and pudding. My mouth watered just thinking about it. I took a seat on my mum and dad’s new solid oak outdoor set. I had a plate of food on my lap and the chair started creaking.

Not thinking anything of it, I tucked in to the mountain of food on my plate. The next thing I knew, the slats caved inwards I fell right through the chair, crashing my bum on the floor. I quickly got up, placed the cushion back on top of the broken chair and walked away, looking around to see if anyone had noticed. I sat on the solid concrete patio step and stared at the broken chair.

After a few more food trips, I saw my dad approaching the chair. I closed my eyes as he sank straight through to the bottom and gave a loud yell. He looked at me and I started to laugh. “I’ve broken the chair, Teresa,” he said. “Phew,” I said to myself. I got away with breaking the new furniture. As I tucked into my man size plate of goodies my best friend Ella, 21, text me, asking me if I wanted to join them on a girl’s holiday.

“Hell yeah!” I replied. “I’m sure my mum can look after Riley for the weekend and I could scrape some cash together,” I replied excitedly. As I hung up the phone and picked up my plate, to continue stuffing my face, something horrible dawned on me. “I’m going to be the fat friend on yet another trip away,” I said to myself.

On my previous holidays I would always get stuck in the sea, too heavy to drag myself out and up the beach. Throughout school, I was used to breaking everything I sat on. I broke chairs mid-lesson. They just collapsed under my weight. It was so embarrassing, and once I even rang in sick for a school trip to Alton Towers, as being turned away from the rides due to my size would have broken my heart.

And, when I went out for meals with my friends or family, I always requested a booth, or even pre-booked one as I was terrified of breaking a chair in the restaurant. This holiday, I was determined not to be the fat friend and I had five-months to lose the weight. I threw my plate in the bin, put a stop to the takeaways and there and then started eating salads, drinking water and cutting out all kinds of sugary snacks.

I went on more walks with Riley, we played more games together and five months later, I managed to lose three stone. “You look fabulous,” my mum said to me. I was getting compliments left, right and centre and it encouraged me to stay on target. I was in the dieting zone and was so chuffed with myself for doing so well. I gradually saw my weight decline and every time I stepped on the scales, my heart fluttered with joy, as I’d always be a few pounds lighter.

After 23 months of healthy eating and exercise, I shed a massive nine and a half stone, nearly half of my body weight, all by myself, and I lost 7 dress sizes. I couldn’t have been happier and I love my new image. Everyone always tells me how great I look and some people don’t even recognise me. I can slip into a tiny size 10 and for once, I wasn’t the fat friend.

I no longer break my bed, chairs don’t collapse under my weight and I can finally sit at a normal table in a restaurant for once. Plus, my dad still has no idea, it was me who broke his solid oak chair.

Do you have a weight loss story to tell? Were you too fat to sit on a chair, or did you face other embarrassing moments that made you transform your life?

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Revenge weight loss: I shifted fat after nasty comment in pub

July 13, 2015 by Lucy Needham

Do you have a revenge weight loss story to sell to a magazine? We guarantee to pay you the highest fees for sharing your story exclusively.

We help hundreds of people get paid for sharing their inspiring weight loss stories. Claire Pays tells her story about the moment a nasty comment in a pub changed her life forever. We secured an exclusive deal for Claire with Sun woman.

Claire Pays was a stereo-typical student. She’d wake up late, stumble into class with a hangover, go home, have a microwave meal, go out, get drunk, eat a kebab and then start all over again.

Her life centred on alcohol, pizza, microwave meals, kebabs, burgers, and anything deep fat fried and easy to grab on the way home. Claire and her housemates would go out five nights a week, without fail.

Despite being double the size of her flatmates who soaked up all the attention from the boys down the pub, Claire was relishing life too much to worry about her expanding waistline. But it was at her local when the full realisation of her ballooning size finally dawned on the 20-year-old. When ordering a drink at the bar, a man looked her up and down, turned to his son and said: ‘You wouldn’t want her son. She’s far too fat for you.’

At only 5ft 5in, Claire was 17 stone and could just about squeeze in to a size 20. Mortified, Claire fled the pub. It was the hangover-free wakeup call she’d needed. Claire says: “I just wanted the ground to swallow me up. I felt so embarrassed. I just closed my eyes tight and ran out of the pub crying. “My friends comforted me, but instead of drowning my sorrows in chocolate cake and double cream, I decided to take his comments on board and finally do something about my weight.

She adds: “When I was in University, there was no point in trying to go on a diet. “My house mates and I would be out five-nights a week, and we consumed thousands of calories of fattening alcohol. “On the way home we’d grab some chips and then I’d just eat rubbish the next day as I would feel hungover. “I don’t think one piece of fruit or any vegetables passed my lips throughout my whole time at uni, apart from maybe peppers and sweetcorn on top of my large cheese pizza.

“I would lounge around the house in track suite bottoms, baggy hoodies and I would just eat all day long while I completed my coursework. “I would then reward myself with large bowl of chips. I would never, ever think about exercising. “When my flat mates and I did go out, the other girls would share clothes, but I was too fat. I would never be able to squeeze myself into a size 8, I would look ridiculous! “I just used to wear thick black leggings to hold in my fat legs, black baggy tops to cover my fat belly and always flat shoes.

“My weight would be too much to handle in a small pair of heels and my feet would blister within an hour. “My friends would wear tiny colourful dresses and look beautiful. “I would look over to my friends shivering in the cold waiting to get inside the club, but I never felt cold as I had layers of fat to keep me warm. Claire says she felt uncomfortable 24/7. “I was shy and insecure. I found it hard to make eye contact and would always look at the ground when I walked into bars or even lectures,” she says.

“I knew people were looking at me, especially when I was with all of my skinny friends. “Once I ate a whole chocolate birthday cake to myself and I still wanted more, “My eating was out of control, I would eat anything and everything I could get my hands on. “I used to think my friends and I all ate the same, but I was the only person who put on the weight. “I’d joke that their calories went on to my belly, but looking back, I used to have secret bed time feasts.

Claire, now a trainee solicitor, never used to exercise and would eat over 3,500 a day and drink even more. She would drink on average of two litres of full fat drinks and fizzy-sugary beverages on a daily basis. But the moment she was fat-shamed in her local pub was the turning point Claire needed. Claire says: “I swapped my cakes for cereal bars, my chicken-nuggets and chips to grilled or even boiled chicken and vegetables, and I even started to go to the gym.

“I threw away all the junk food I loved to eat, all the fizzy drinks and my secret stash of bed time sweets were gone. “The weight slowly but surely fell off and in my first week of dieting. I lost 9lbs, and in the first year I lost three stone. “I ate clean, balanced meals – no snacks and plenty of salads and it made me feel amazing. “I’m on a strict fitness regime now.

“I only eat fish, drink water and eat plenty of fruit and veg and I exercise all the time. “I mostly run and have become so much fitter than I used to be. “Before I could only run for 2 minutes, then stop, then 5 minutes then stop. Then I found myself running for 20 minutes without stopping, and now I run 17km every Saturday morning and I have built up muscle, where I’m becoming toned.” Claire now goes to the gym five times a week and competes in swimathons where she swims for two hours a time.

Her new healthy life style has seen her lose a massive seven stone and seven dress sizes. “I can’t believe that I used to be so big and eat so many unhealthy foods. “I’m surprised I was able to enjoy life with the life style I chose for myself, and I was always so sluggish. “When I see people I haven’t seen for a while, they don’t even recognise me. It’s amazing. They’re shocked. They tell me I look much healthier and happier. “I find it hard to understand how I used to eat 3,500 calories a day of junk food, it’s really disgusting.”

Finally, after three hard years of swapping her fizzy drinks for protein shakes and deep fat fried goodies for fruit and veg, Claire has reached her target weight and slimmed down to just 10 stone and slips into a tiny size 8, a size that Claire once thought would look ‘ridiculous’ on her. “I used to be in the obese category and now I’m really healthy. I can now share clothes with my friends and no longer have to browse the unflattering plus size shops, and sometimes, my clothes are even too small for my friends!”

“If saw the man who told me I ‘was too large,’ he probably wouldn’t recognise me, but if I saw him again, I would remind him of what he said to me, just so I can see his face drop.” Wouldn’t that be the ultimate revenge weigh loss?

Diet before:

Breakfast: Skip
Lunch: Three course meal at my local Harvester, starter being breaded fried mushrooms with dips and onion rings, with a full fat fizzy drinks main: cheese burger with cheesy chips, with another full fat fizzy drink dessert: giant ice-cream sundae, extra sauce, with a third full fat fizzy drink.
Dinner: Man sized portion of chicken nuggets and chips with toasted waffles and beans, accompanied with a full fat fizzy drink.
Snacks: Chocolates bars, crisps, cheesy chips or a pizza after a night out, and two large chocolate chip muffins with cream poured over them.

Diet after:

Breakfast: Porridge with skimmed milk or water.
Lunch: Chicken salad, with water.
Tea: Fish with vegetables, with water.
Snacks: Fruit and cereal bars.

You can see some of our recent client’s weight loss and slimming stories here: https://www.sellusyourstory.com/news/category/weight-loss-slimming/

If you have a weight loss story to sell to the press, contact us today using the form on this page. We guarantee the highest fees and there is no obligation (we won’t use anything without your permission). We are the UK’s largest independent press agency. Give us a try!

Your story doesn’t need to be a slimming story or a revenge weight loss story; we sell every type of news and feature to national magazines and newspapers. To find our more about how to sell a story to the national press, see our Sell My Story page.

YOU CAN SELL YOUR WEIGHT LOSS STORY

April 8, 2015 by Laura Elvin

Amy ditched her Starbucks diet to and got into amazing shape, then told her story to the national press to inspire other slimmers. You can sell your weight loss story too.

Taunted in the playground as a child, Amy never forgot the cruel jibes from school bullies who nicknamed her the ‘BFG’ – after the Big Friendly Giant from the Roald Dahl book.

Tipping the scales at a whopping 24st 7lbs and towering over her peers at 6ft tall, Amy looked shockingly different. After she left college Amy continued to pile on the pounds and before long she struggled to find shops stocking clothes to fit her ginormous size 26 figure. It was only when the 26-year-old realised she weighed only slightly less than her age, she knew she had to do something about her size. She ditched the junk food and joined a gym. Now the teaching assistant is just one third of the women she used to be after losing an incredible nine stone.

Amy, from Darlington, County Durham, can finally grab a size 14 off the rack and weighs a healthier 14st. She’s traded in her baggy, dark and unflattering clothes for short skirts, colourful dresses and high heels. Amy said: “I hated school. I was bullied really badly because I was so fat. “The other girls would constantly stare, laugh and point as my belly jiggled. “They would call me BFG – like the Big Friendly Giant from the Roald Dahl book – only when they used it it stood for big fat girl. “It was a vicious cycle as the cruel remarks would only make my eating worse. Food was comforting and I enjoyed binging. “It didn’t help I was really tall and had size nine feet. “One bully even threatened to kill me. I used to keep my head down and take my school life a day at a time.

“I only had two friends and sometimes I felt as if they didn’t want to hang around with me because I was so big.” The bullying got so bad that Amy started to attend counselling sessions to help improve her low self-esteem. “I’ve been going along to sessions since the age of 18. I’ve tried to block out the bullies nasty remarks but some remain. I’ll always be the BFG in my eyes,” she explained. “I used to suffer from really bad depression because I just loved junk food. “I would stuff my face with carbs: Pizza, pasta, garlic bread, cheese, cakes, sweets and chocolate on a daily basis. “At one point I was so big, I literally couldn’t buy clothes in shops. I was forced to order my clothes from a plus size website, which always made me look older. “I used to hide my flab under baggy dark hoody’s, shapeless jeans and unflattering hats. I looked like a whale. I was so ashamed and eating was my only release.”

Amy had no confidence and had no respect for herself or her body. She would gorge on an entire extra-large bar of Galaxy chocolate and a packet of Haribo every evening, washing down the calories with a large glass of sugary fruit juice. “I was addicted to Starbucks. I used to visit the store two times a day six days a week. I was a gold member,” she said. “The employees and I were on a first name basis and they always had my drink ready before I opened the door. “A large double caramel macchiato, extra caramel sugar syrup, extra caramel waffle, extra caramel sauce, extra cream, sprinkles and three sugars. I would look forward to my coffee and sugar fix.” Amy’s diet did her figure no favours and when summer rolled around she dreaded going outside.

She would get hot in her baggy, dark clothes and going away abroad was a thought that made her skin crawl. When Amy did venture out her house to go on holiday, she wouldn’t sit by the pool. Embarrassed of her frumpy figure she would cover up in an over-sized t-shirt and a pair of baggy skater-shorts – while sitting in the shade feeling sorry for herself. “When I used to go abroad, I wanted to leave before I even arrived. I didn’t own any nice holiday clothes. I felt like an outcast against the smaller women in their bikinis. “I have never felt attractive. I would rarely leave my house as people would stare and call me hurtful names.”Still Amy couldn’t kick her food addiction.

She had a weakness for sweets and grazed on anything that was deep fat fried and full of cheese. “My favourite thing to eat was the northern delicacy, Parmo. It’s a deep fried breadcrumb chicken the size of my face, smothered in garlic mayo, lathered in cheese, with a large portion of cheesy chips and more mayo. “I was a sucker for sweets and I would do anything for a large bag of Haribo. I used to iron my flatmates clothes and they would buy me a bag each. It was better than money. My weight was spiralling out of control and I didn’t want to do anything about it. “Only after scoffing lots of chocolate eggs over the Easter period, I decided to ditch my dirty eating. “My weight was making me unhappy. I was desperate to lose my bouncing belly and huge tree trunk thighs.”

Her weight really hit home when she was invited to an indoor sky diving session. Amy refused the invitation as she was horrified her weight wouldn’t be lifted by the blast of air. She knew it was time to do something about her size. She started going to the gym and cut out junk food. She swapped her fruit juice for water and traded in the chocolate for vegetables. “I signed up to my local gym and a personal trainer. I would have three sessions a week with, Steven Virtue, 26. I would find it so hard and would leave the gym exhausted, wanting to give up,” she explained. “I got into more of routine and started going on the days I didn’t have a personal training session. I noticed my weight fall off.

“At first I would start with a brisk walk and then build up to a run. I was afraid the running machine wouldn’t hold my weight and the belt would stop going around when I stood on it. “My asthma used to be so bad I could barely walk up the stairs without taking a puff, now I don’t even know where it is.” Now the newly-found fitness fanatic trains at the gym seven days a week with three personal training sessions. Her flab fell off when she rehauled her diet and cut out the carbs instead opting for chicken and vegetables with water and green tea. As a student Amy was guzzling four litres of cider a night. Now she drinks five litres of water a day. And as her waist line shrank Amy’s confidence bloomed. Before long she was unrecognisable to family and friends.

“I had to buy a whole new wardrobe when I lost my whale like weight and I can’t believe I can now wear colourful skirts, vests, beautiful dresses and high heels,” she said. “I feel amazing. The gym and my diet is now a part of my life, it’s my routine, like breathing. “Me and my friends can both fit into my old jeans and we still need a belt to keep the trousers up. I have pinned them on my wall to remind me how fat I was. ‘My friend, Jenny, 26. Who I’ve known since I was four and see most days, always walks past me on the street. “Even my family don’t recognise me and my boyfriend finds it hard to believe I finally have a waist.” Amy would tower over her friends but now her smaller frame means she finally feels like a female. Bullies from school who used to tease Amy try to get back into contact with her since she’s lost her tubby tummy. “I feel great and I’m so proud of myself. I want to lose another two to four stone. No one can call me BFG now. “I’m happy all the time. Even the children I help teach have noticed a difference in my weight, clothes and mood.”

Diet Before

Breakfast – A large bowl of sugary cereal, four cups of tea with three sugars, two pieces of toast with butter and jam

Morning snack – Biscuits and a cup of tea with three sugars

Lunch – Ham and chicken sandwich with mayonnaise, one bag of crisps, one chocolate bar, two pork pies and two scotch eggs

Afternoon Snacks – A bag of haribo, biscuits and one large coffee from Starbucks

Dinner – Cheesy lasagne, cheesy garlic bread, a large glass of fruit juice

Evening Snacks – A large bar of galaxy chocolate and a large coffee

Diet After

Breakfast – Protein Shake

Mid-morning snack – Egg white omelette with spinach

Dinner – Three rice cakes and cottage cheese

Afternoon Snack – Nuts

Dinner – Chicken salad and broccoli

Evening Snack – Green tea

If you have a weight loss story to sell to the national press, please get in touch with us today. We are the UK’s largest independent press agency, and our features team love helping amazing slimmers sell their stories to inspire hundreds of others. Simply fill out the contact form on the right hand side of this page, and we’ll get back to you to find out more, and tell you how much your story is worth.

You can see some of the slimming stories that we’ve recently helped clients share with the press here: https://www.sellusyourstory.com/news/category/weight-loss-slimming/

Too Overweight to Give Birth Naturally

January 1, 2015 by Stacey Byles

Kerry, 33, endured years of heartache after unsuccessfully trying for a child with her husband Mike, 34, since 2011. Doctors warned her she was too overweight to give birth naturally as she tipped the scales at 16st 11lbs and wore size 20 clothes.

But she decided to battle the bulge when a doctor told her to slim down if she wanted a chance at her dreams of motherhood. After shedding five stone, the slimmer was delighted when she fell pregnant last year. The couple had the baby of their dreams when Kerry gave birth to Abigail, weighing 7lbs 10oz. Since giving birth, the new mum has already lost most of her baby weight and is a healthy 11st 11lb and a svelte size 10.

Kerry said: “I wanted to start a family. “We’d tried for a year and nothing was happening so the doctor said ‘the first thing you need to do is try and lose some weight’. “You don’t want to be a big person so there’s always something in your mind saying you really should lose weight. “But when the doctor said my chances of pregnancy were increased if I lost weight, that gave me the motivation to stop putting it off. “There wasn’t even any inkling of the possibility of falling pregnant until I’d lost the weight.

“It got to the point where I lost the weight and in my mind it must have been why I got pregnant because it hadn’t happened beforehand. “Abigail is perfect. I feel really blessed that we have her, our dream to have a family has come true.” Kerry blamed her bulging figure on eating convenience food all day. But the pounds soon fell off after she began her eating plan with a slimming group and it even educated her to get the right nutrients on board once she was pregnant.
IT worker Kerry added: “It was more about focusing on making sure I was eating the right foods and you get an extra allowance of calcium and fibre to make sure you’re giving the baby everything it needs. “The wonderful thing was I looked pregnant. “I was scared that I was going to end up looking like a fat woman again and people wouldn’t realise I was pregnant but it all went on the front and for once I felt like I actually looked good.”

We helped to sell Kerry’s story to Love It Magazine on an exclusive publication deal. If you have an inspiring story like Kerry’s, we’d love to hear from you. We can help you sell your story for the maximum fee possible, and ensure that your story is told your way. SWNS is the largest press agency in the UK and we command the highest fees for our clients. Our service is free to use, so why not get in touch today?

To read just a few of the weight loss and slimming stories we’ve recently published, take a look here: https://www.sellusyourstory.com/news/category/weight-loss-slimming/

Or to read our page ‘how to sell my story to a magazine for the most money possible‘ click here.

Shamed into Losing Weight

October 28, 2014 by Laura Elvin

Sam Standerwick shared her amazing weight loss journey after finding out she was to fat to kayak. Sam lost an incredible 9st (the healthy way) after being shamed into losing weight.

A woman who ballooned to 21 stone was shamed into losing nearly nine stone – after she became too fat to go kayaking.

Sam Standerwick, 41, enjoyed watersports as a child but drifted into bad habits, eating whole chickens in one sitting or an entire multi-pack of crisps.

But when she decided to take up kayaking again for her 40th birthday she discovered she was too big to easily slip into a wetsuit.

She embarked on a new active lifestyle and has dropped from 21st 9lbs to 13st 1lbs.

“I bought all the gear to paddle board but quickly realised I was spending more time preparing for it than actually being out on the water,” she said.

“I was always too tired by the time I got in the water. And of course a part of me always worried I would get stuck in the wetsuit!”

Sam, who lives with her husband Gareth and their three cats in Tredegar, south Wales, said while she had always eaten relatively healthily, her downfall was large portions.

“I didn’t go from eating pizza and chips to broccoli and chicken overnight, the difference is beforehand I may have eaten the whole chicken.

“It was the amount I was eating. I grew up in a healthy family so I continued to eat meat, veg, pasta and things like that but just huge portions.”

After taking up running the weight began to fall off, and Sam is now training for her 27th park race. She has completed two half-marathons, three 10k races and 26 5k races. But unlike other dieters, the super slimmer said maintaining a healthy appetite and diet was what worked for her. Eating 2,000 calories a day, she runs, cross trains and does weight lifting on a regular basis.

“It’s not about fad diets or 1,200 calories a day,” she said. “I’m never hungry, if I was then I couldn’t do it. I think a lot of people do it, they crash diet and fail. It’s easier than people make out. For me I’ve not found it impossibly difficult because I’ve not deprived myself of anything.”

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