A mum said it was a "lucky bonus" when a misshapen tattoo was removed during dramatic 5lb skin removal surgery after she lost 10st. Morgan Woodruff, 33, piled on the weight and tipped the scales at 21.5st thanks to 'comfort eating' due to poor mental health.
She struggled to squeeze into XXXL clothes after gorging on up to 5,000 calories a day, including McDonald's and pizza every night. Splitting with her husband and a cruel remark from a then-friend kick-started her body transformation, and she lost 10st 2lbs in just over a year.
The waitress admits she didn't realise how much progress she had made until the final step - getting 5lbs of excess skin removed, and is now 9st. She can slip into a slender size XS with ease - and sometimes even shops in the kids' section.
In an unexpected "bonus", a tattoo on her hip was on a section of skin she had removed. It was done in memory of her late father, but "stretched" when her body changed shape, and her daughter said it "looked like Olaf’s arm, from Frozen" - not a heart and peace sign.
Morgan said: "I used food to cope with my mental health - I would eat anything sweet and easily accessible. I was binge eating up to 5,000 calories a day - processed food, constant snacks and soda. No fresh cooking at all.
"In my 20s, I lost my father, fell out with my childhood friends for good, and got a divorce - and when I turned 30, I realised if nobody would love me, I needed to love myself. This time last year I hit my weight loss milestone of just over 10 stone, but I couldn't see what I had achieved until I had skin removal surgery.
"Now I'm just so proud - it took a long time to get there, but I chose myself and realised I can do anything."
She added: "I loved the memory of the tattoo, but disliked the tattoo itself - it was all misshapen and stretched. My daughter would tell me it looked like Olaf’s arm, from Frozen.
"I didn't plan for the tattoo to be removed - but it was a lucky bonus!"
Morgan was super-fit and did ballet every day but stopped when she moved with her then-boyfriend. She started a college course, but she was battling several undiagnosed mental health conditions at the time, culminating in her dropping out, she said.
She piled on the pounds - 10st in two years. She said: "I didn't have any friends, I didn't dance any more, and I didn't have a job or any hobbies.
"I was so overweight that I didn't really do anything of interest at all."
Her favourite meal would be McDonalds if eating out, and an oven pizza if eating at home. She had her daughter in August 2013, and married three years later.
Her "self-destructive" behaviour worsened dramatically after the death of her beloved father, Woody Woodruff, 58, in September 2014, she said. She said: "I was in total denial, on a downwards spiral.
"He single-handedly raised me, so I felt my life was on pause for another few years after that."
She tried "every fad diet" and her weight fluctuated constantly but would always gain it back again. It was when she hit the age of 30 that something changed - prompting Morgan to vow to change her life.
She recalled a low moment during a fall-out when her then-friend told her: "You're so fat, what's wrong with you? You've let yourself go, aren't you embarrassed?"
Around the same time, at the start of the pandemic, she also split with her husband and ditched an unsupportive group of friends, she said. She said: "I realised I wasn't there for myself. If nobody would love me, I needed to love myself."
Separated, but still living with her husband, she built a small workout area in the basement and began working out three days a week. She ate healthier and cut out most of her fast food habits, learning to cook meals for herself.
She also finally decided to get proper mental health treatment after being officially diagnosed with anxiety, depression, PTSD and borderline personality disorder. Morgan, mum to Nora, nine, said: "I chose myself, because I had to."
She stuck to her exercise routine and ate 1,700 calories per day. By January 2022, she had lost 10st but said excess skin prevented her from seeing her full transformation.
She had skin removal surgery on her stomach - called a 360 panniculectomy - in March 2022 - where surgeons cut off 5lbs of skin from her stomach and back. The blue tattoo she had once loved went with it.
She said: "I have a new partner now and have shared custody of my daughter with my ex-husband. We were not compatible as spouses, but we're amazing co-parents and good friends.
"My weight loss was for me - I made the conscious decision to do it for myself and continued it for myself and my daughter. Some days I struggled, and I still do, but I believe in me.
"I needed to know my daughter wouldn't look at me and think being unhealthy was ok. Now I can say that's true - and I teach my healthy habits to my daughter."
