At just 5ft tall weighing 21st 7lb, Kathryn was morbidly obese , carrying most of her chunk in her trunk. And while the 37-year-old was a size 22 on top, her bottom half was a whopping size 30.
Comments from strangers hurt, but not as much as seeing the disappointment on her young daughters’ faces when she couldn’t go on swings and slides with them.
So, she vowed to lose weight and after shedding 10 stone and replacing her big booty with a bootiful new size-12 body, she can barely believe that the biggest bum she has EVER seen once belonged to her.
“My nan took a photo of me shovelling snow one winter wearing tight leggings, and hid it from me as she knew I’d be mortified. When she finally showed it to me recently, I couldn’t believe it.
“Of course I knew it was big, but I never saw just how enormous it was from behind and how much it stuck out!” she says.
”But instead of getting upset, I thought about how far I had come and how great I feel now. I’ve lost almost half my
body weight!”
Kathryn, who’s mum to Lyla, eight, and Anna, six, had been overweight since the age of seven. Her parents and brother were all slim so she would eat in secret in her bedroom.At school she became known as “Fat Kath” and was bullied.
Over the years she had tried dieting and exercise, but the problem wasn’t physical, it was emotional.
“My problem was emotional but they didn’t seem to take it as seriously as other eating disorders which was frustrating because it was destroying my health and my life,” she says.
“I was just told to eat less and move more but that was like telling a person with anorexia to simply eat more. It was never going to work.”
Every time she was stressed or unhappy she turned to chocolate and crisps.
When she met her husband BK in November 2002 he made her feel good about her size. They married in 2009 with Kathryn in a size 24 dress.
But after having their daughters, she ballooned to over 21st.
photo-features.co.uk
But what really cut her up was not being able to fit on the swings and slide with her children at the park.
“I had to tell them sorry I couldn’t go on with them because Mummy’s bottom was too big,” she says.
Holidays were especially hard. Every year the family went back to Port Grimaud in the south of France.
“Every year, the heat floored me. It was exhausting and I felt very self-conscious in summer clothes so I would make an excuse to avoid day trips,” she says.
And every year, she vowed to be slimmer by the time of their next holiday.
On holiday in July 2013, she had to watch from a shaded spot while her daughters splashed around in the sea with their father. She desperately wished she could join in.
photo-features.co.uk
She gave up ordering takeaways for dinner each night and the following month signed up to the Cambridge Weight Plan, a meal replacement diet .
She swapped her junk food for a combination of shakes, soups and home-cooked low-calorie meals, and attended weekly meetings with her consultant who helped her understand she didn’t need food to control her emotions. In the first week she lost 13 pounds.
“The change of lifestyle was very hard but I was stunned to see how much I had lost. It showed me the hard work and effort was worth it and kept me committed.”
But best of all she was able to play with her girls.
“For the first time ever it felt possible to lose the weight and I knew if I kept doing what I was doing I would get there,” she says.
“I looked so different that on one occasion a friend walked straight past me in the street because they hadn’t recognised me.”
Her weight loss meant she was also finally able to see her bottom in the mirror for the first time ever.
“Before, it had been so big that I could only see part if it. My bottom was still bigger than the rest of me but I was starting to like it rather than hate it.”
The family returned to the south of France in summer 2014 and this time Kathryn was able to play with the kids in the pool and enjoy herself.
“The holiday was a completely different experience and we had so much fun that I was more determined to keep going.”
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She says she didn’t have to ask her nan why she hadn’t shown her the picture before – it was obvious why she had kept it from her.
But it made her realise just how much progress she was making and continued to lose more weight. She started exercising, doing short runs , cycling and going to Zumba.
“I wanted to carry on losing weight but with two daughters I wanted to set the right example. It is important to me to cook and eat healthy meals with them so my weight loss became slower but remained steady.”
Now she has lost just over 10 stone and plans to lose another 7lb to reach her goal weight.
“I am still shocked the biggest bum I have ever seen was once mine. But thankfully that booty has gone and I have never felt better.
“My bottom is still a work in progress but it’s no longer the centre of attention!”
Fat file
- Dress size before: 22 top/30 bottom
- Weight before: 21st 7lb
- Dress size NOW: 12
- Weight NOW: 11st 4lb
- Total loss: 10st 3lb
- Breakfast: Nothing
- Snack: Coffee with crisps or muffin
- Lunch: Sandwich or pasty, crisps, choc bar and Diet Coke
- Snack: Two chocolate bars from the office vending machine
- Dinner: Either Indian or Chinese takeaway or if cooking, a pasta bake or lasagne. Diet Coke
- Snack: Popcorn
- Breakfast: Cambridge Weight Plan chocolate shake
- Lunch: Salad
- Snack: Cambridge Weight Plan lemon bar
- Dinner: Home-cooked meal totalling 400 calories, omelette served with salad
- Her tip: Have fruit teas to curb sweet cravings and drink 4-6 pints of water every day.
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