At over 25st, Stephanie Sykes believed she was a “waste of space”.

At one point, she was so heavy, she was more or less bedridden and would only leave her Billingham home if absolutely necessary.

Living with autism, which wasn’t diagnosed until 2018, Stephanie used food as a crutch and turned to it after the tragic death of her dad, Alan, in 2015.

But when her mum, Karen, 56, and twin sister, Katherine started going to Slimming World meetings, Stephanie became curious.

As she was bigger than them both she thought she should go too.

She went, and loved it, with the programme enabling her to completely change her life.

Today, the 25-year-old has lost over half of her bodyweight and is now at a healthy weight.

“I was feeling so low about myself, Slimming World was the only thing that was good at the time”, Stephanie said.

“At my biggest I was 25st 5lbs, that was in May 2017.

“I suffered from sciatica and I used to stay in bed all day.

“My weight was so bad I was more or less bedridden.

“I never even used to drive because I felt so anxious, it was more of a mental thing.”

Stephanie knew she had to change, and threw herself into her diet plan and exercise classes.

The weight gradually dropped off her, finally reaching her target of 11st 7lb.

But her journey wasn’t easy, and the drastic weight loss resulted in excess skin, something she hadn’t factored in.

“It was really hard to get my head around the fact it wasn’t fat, it was loose skin”, Stephanie, who works as a production technician, said.

“In December 2018, I went to the doctors, they told me only an operation would work.”

Loose skin is often an inevitable consequence of huge weight loss, and the operations aren’t cheap.

“I had to have two operations to remove the skin, both surgeries amounted to £18,000.

“I got a loan in order to pay for it.

“I’d gone through all that weight loss to still feel like rubbish, so I decided to get the surgery.

“It was a struggle but it was the last thing to get sorted on my journey.

“I could get more surgery on my legs but I’m happy with who I am now.”

Active life

The removal of the skin was one of the best things Stephanie ever did, and she’s continuing to eat healthily while maintaining her weight.

It’s enabled her to live a more active and fulfilled life.

She was also nominated for Slimming World’s woman of the year in 2019 – and finished in the top 10.

And she now wants to help others who are in the same situation she found herself in.

She is a successful blogger and has over 50,000 followers on Instagram.

“When I was bigger I thought losing that much weight was impossible”, she added.

“But I want to let people know that anyone can do it.

The post ‘I spent £18,000 on tummy tuck and it transformed my life’ – Steph took action after near 14st loss appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

More than a fifth of primary one pupils in Scotland are at risk of being overweight or obese, new official statistics have shown.  

Figures from the NHS Information Services Division on the BMI of primary one children across Scotland reveal that 22.4 per cent are at risk of being overweight or obese, while 77.6 per cent were of a healthy weight.

Of these, 12.2 per cent were at risk of overweight, while 10.2 per cent were at risk of obesity.

While the proportion of children who are at risk of being overweight or obese has stayed quite constant since 2001-02, the gap between rich and poor areas has widened, with the proportion of primary one children at risk of obesity in the most deprived areas now more than double that of those living in the least deprived areas.

In the most deprived areas this year, 13.7 per cent of primary one children were at risk of obesity, while 6.5 per cent were at risk of obesity in the least deprived areas.

being overweight can cause a number of serious health problems over the course of life, including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, asthma and breathing difficulties, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

It can also have an impact on self-esteem and lead to bullying.

Children who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults.

Lorraine Tulloch, programme lead of Obesity Action Scotland said: “It is concerning to see that the inequalities gap in obesity in primary one children in Scotland continues to grow.

“Today’s report shows that the gap between primary one children living in the most deprived and least deprived areas at risk of obesity is now the widest it has been since records began.

“We need to do more to protect our children. Ambitious action is urgently required.  

“The Scottish Government have committed to halving childhood obesity by 2030, but we need more actions to improve our food environment if we want to achieve that.”

Scottish Greens parliamentary co-leader Alison Johnstone said: “It is absolutely shocking that so many of our children are at risk of becoming overweight or obese.

“Scotland’s children have been facing a public health crisis for 18 years and we are no closer to tackling it.

“Measures such as removing sugary, high-fat foods from schools are a positive step but we need a greater focus on prevention.

“The link between poverty and obesity is well known and we must first address the root causes of health inequalities if we are to tackle the obesity epidemic.

“Access to cheap, nutritious food and free, easily-accessible sports facilities would go some way to narrowing the gap between the most and least deprived, but ensuring that everyone has a stable, sufficient income is the best means of improving health outcomes.

“This would allow families meet their basic needs, including access to proper nutrition.”

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