A mum, who struggled with her weight the majority of her life, shed an incredible 16 stone. Kelly Barker made the life-changing choice to lose weight after seeing an image of herself queuing up for a buffet at a family christening.
The teacher said she was left 'mortified' after seeing the image and decided she needed to change her lifestyle. The 42-year-old had spent years hiding behind baggy clothes, and avoided looking in full-length mirrors.
Speaking exclusively to the Liverpool Echo, she said: "If I'm honest I've kind of been overweight all my life. [When I was at school] I was overweight and my mum, through the GP, had referred me to a dietician.
"I always remember this dietician coming into class, taking me out of class and weighing me in the head teacher's office, and that stuck with me as something that really devastated me. I had to sit on a table on my own at lunchtimes because I had to have a different meal in school and it was very clear to other children how different I was.
"I feel that's where a lot of my not feeling good enough and not having good self-esteem has come from. Then I started to be more aware that I was bigger than other children and then food became a comfort."
Kelly said she soon entered a vicious cycle of low self-esteem, which caused her to restrict her diet and then comfort eat as she continued to pile on the pounds. She said: "I think I got good at hiding from myself.
"I only had photos on social media that I'd taken that I thought I looked OK in. I didn't have full length mirrors in my house, I ordered clothes online that were the biggest, baggiest, shapeless clothes I could find."
But when a picture was taken of Kelly at a family christening and shared on social media she knew something had to change. In a previous interview with the ECHO, she said: "I don't let people take pictures of me, but when a friend posted online from the christening, there I was in the background queuing up for the buffet and I was absolutely enormous.
"I was the first in the queue and I was mortified what people would think of me. I couldn't hide from myself this time."
Shortly after this Kelly, who works at a primary school in St Helens, was asked to stay in school and teach another year group when her pupils were sent on their annual PGL activity holiday. She said: "I was relieved because it saved me from having to admit that I thought I wasn't physically up to it.
"Then I was nominated by parents as Teacher of the Year at my school. At first, I was overjoyed that I'd been recognised for being an outstanding teacher, but I realised I was letting my children down. How could I promote healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle for kids when I wasn't doing it myself?"
Kelly said she also wanted to be able to lose weight so she could be a better role model for her son. She joined a Slimming World group in Southport in May 2018 and by August had already lost two stone.
She said: "I started Slimming World but it took me a little while to walk through that door. [I thought]' I'm going to be the biggest person in the room, everyone is going to laugh at me' because that's how I'd been treated in my life up to that point.
"People would laugh at me and point at me across the street and shout out of car windows."
However, after plucking up the courage to join Slimming World, Kelly said she was greeted by a friendly and supportive group where she has gone on to make lifelong friends. The 42-year-old has now lost a whopping 16st 7lbs by following Slimming World's food optimising plan and has dropped ten dress sizes, going from a size 32 to a size 12.
Kelly said: "I actually like myself now, it took a while but I think that was the biggest thing it's that I didn't like myself before. My life has completely changed in terms of how I feel in my role as a mum and how I support my son to have a healthier lifestyle.
"I support my children at school not just academically, but [with] a healthy lifestyle. In my class we give compliments to each other on a daily basis. We tell each other what we like about each other and what it is you're thankful for."
