A mum who struggled put on her socks or tie her shoelaces due to her weight felt worried about letting her son down if she didn’t slim down for his wedding.
Kirsty Stevens said she has always struggled with her weight. But it wasn’t until 2018, when she closed the pub she had been running with her husband for 12 years, that it really started to have an impact on her life. After having a busy social life for over a decade, Kirsty suddenly found that she would rarely leave the house.
And when she did leave for work as a housekeeper, after transforming the pub into holiday accommodation, she found some cleaning activities too physically demanding. The 54-year-old, from Blyth, said: “I was feeling old before my time. I was stiff and sore 24/7, I hardly went out, and could only just manage the physical aspects my job as a housekeeper in my guest accommodation business.
“Anything above what I absolutely had to do was too much to cope with, and after work all I could manage was to sit on the sofa. I even had a device my daughter bought for me for helping me put my socks on, and never tied my shoelaces on my foot as I couldn’t reach.”
Kirsty said she found herself living in baggy clothes and joggers and always felt “sluggish”. She had “totally lost the joy in life” and felt unhappy with her appearance, lack of energy and poor mobility.
Kirsty Stevens slimmed from a size 22/24 to a size 10/12
(Image: Slimming World)
She added: “Looking back now I realise that my life had become very small. I didn’t see friends, did no activities outside work, and I’d totally lost the joy in life. I’m pretty sure I was actually depressed, just going through the motions, treating life as a to-do list of jobs, before I could get back to the sofa.”
But when she found out her son and daughter-in-law had booked their wedding for October 2023, Kirsty was determined to make a change because she “didn’t want to let [her] son and new daughter-in-law down”, adding that she was “forced out of [her] self-isolation” by the happy news.
The mum-of-two said: “Once the wedding was booked I started to worry about how bad things had got. I was struggling to fit into size 22/24 clothes, living in joggers and stretchy trousers, with baggy tops and men’s fleeces.
“Obviously as mother of the groom I wouldn’t be able to just hide all day, I didn’t want to let my son and new daughter-in-law down, and what on earth was I going to wear? I was being forced out of my self-isolation, and realised I just had to do something about so many aspects of my life that I didn’t like, nearly all of which stemmed back to being unhappy with my weight, size and lack of mobility.”
Kirsty Stevens slimmed from a size 22/24 to a size 10/12
(Image: Slimming World)
With one year before the wedding, Kirsty said she tried repeatedly to shift the pounds, eating healthy for a few days before finding her diet too restrictive. After 11 months, she had managed to lose half-a-stone and with only five weeks before the wedding she felt far from where she hoped she would be in time for the big day.
“I’d start ‘being good’ for a few days, find it all too restrictive, and just fall off the wagon, over and over and over again,” said Kirsty, who was then invited by her friends to join a Slimming World group to help keep her on track.
She added: “I felt I had to do something or nothing was going to change so it was worth giving it a go. The wedding was just over five weeks away and on a Tuesday morning in early September 2023 I walked into group for the first time.”
Kirsty was a size 22/24 at the time of the wedding but decided to continue with her Slimming World journey after the big day. And now she has lost an incredible 7st 11lbs overall. She has switched up her diet of takeaways, “huge plates of pasta with creamy sauces or rich curries” and has ditched her “second breakfast” mid-morning.
Kirsty Stevens slimmed from a size 22/24 to a size 10/12
(Image: Slimming World)
Kirsty said: “I really just rolled from one meal to the next, with loads of high calorie snacks in between. I’d even take crisps and biscuits to bed. My husband isn’t that into takeaway or eating out, but I’d twist his arm until he gave in to me, and I’d get away with it two or three times a week.
“It was definitely me leading the way in unhealthy eating habits, but as I did most of the shopping and food preparation he really just had to eat what I presented him with – which wasn’t good for his health either.
“I’d even sneak food when I was on my own, rushing to eat it before I got ‘caught’, hiding in the kitchen or even stuffing biscuits or chocolate on my way home from the supermarket and hiding the wrappers in the outside bin before I went inside with the shopping.”
Kirsty Stevens slimmed from a size 22/24 to a size 10/12
(Image: Slimming World)
The housekeeper, who now also works as a Slimming World consultant, added: “[Now] I make loads of different meals, full of flavour and interest, and I know that they’re good for me too. My favourite is a Chicken, Mushroom, Potato, Chickpea and Spinach curry with boiled rice, salad and mint yogurt. I also have all my favourite sides, rice, pasta and potatoes – but just in smaller portions and I keep an eye on high fat or high sugar sauces etc. I still snack, but usually on fruit or healthier versions of baked style crisps.”
Less than 18 months after her son’s wedding, Kirsty will see her daughter get married in Vegas and is looking forward to having more choice of clothing to wear having slimmed to a size 10/12.
She said: “I’ve gone from a size 22/24 for my son’s wedding to a 10/12 for my daughters – so you can imagine that my clothes options have increased dramatically and I no longer want to hide in the background!”
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