Obese mother who ate 5,000 calories a day sheds half her body weight after fearing she would die and leave her children alone
- Mother-of-four Sarah Swift, from Brewood, Staffordshire used to eight 25st 13lb
- She shed 13st 2lb thanks to healthy diet and exercise and got down to a size 12
- Started diet after her husband Paul, 52, was diagnosed with a heart condition
- Was afraid she would die from obesity and that her children would be left alone
A mother-of-four who weighed 26st lost half her body weight after her husband was diagnosed with a heart problem – making her terrified that they would both die young and leave their children orphans.
Sarah Swift, 49, from Brewood, Staffordshire, was left terrified when her husband, Paul, 52, was found to have an abnormal heart rate and told he might need a pacemaker fitted to regulate it.
The mother-of-four from Brewood, Staffordshire, who wore a size 32, suddenly realised that her excessive weight could put her in an early grave.
With a body mass index (BMI) – used to measure a healthy weight – of 61.9, compared to the NHS recommended figure of between 18.5 and 25, Sarah, finally had accepted she was obese.
But with a healthy diet and exercise, Sarah, who used to weigh 25st 13lb at her heaviest, lost 13st 2lb and got down to a size 12.
At her heaviest, Sarah Swift (pictured before her weight loss), 49, from Brewood, Stafforshire, weighed 25st 13lb. She shed an impressed 13st 2lb after her husband Paul, 52, was diagnosed with irregular heartbeat in 2018, and now weighs 11st 11lb
Sarah went from a size 32 to a size 12 thanks to consistent dieting, and said she felt healthier. The mother-of-four was afraid she would die of obesity and leave her children to be orphans (pictured after dropping the weight)
Recalling her moment of realisation, Sarah said: ‘I had a panic. I had visions of our two older children being left to look after our youngest pair. It was really awful.’
Determined to change, stay at home mother, Sarah, who has three sons and one daughter – Daniel, 28, an export administrator, Arran, 26, a teaching assistant, Brandon, nine and Ellouise, six – joined a slimming programme, losing nearly two stone in a month.
In the meantime, she was delighted to discover that her husband was unlikely to develop any serious complications, but she still stuck to her diet and has now slimmed down to a slender 11st 11lb size 12.
She explained: ‘It’s funny in a way, but Paul’s health scare is actually what led to me shifting the weight once and for all.
‘Now my life and the rest of my family’s lives in turn, have changed for the better.’
The super-slimmer with her young daughter Ellouise, six. Sarah almost tipped the scale at 26st before she decided to get on a weight loss programme
Sarah was sporty as a teen, but started to put on weight after she left high school, and put more weight on due to bad eating habits. Pictured in 2019 with her Life changer award from Cambridge 1:1
Sporty throughout her teenage years, it was not until Sarah left school, aged 16, that the pounds started piling on.
‘I worked as a clerk right next door to a newsagents, so I would pop in and get a few treats on my lunch break,” she recalled.
‘Then, I’d get a big portion of fish and chips or a McDonald’s in the afternoon, before heading back for a home cooked meal in the evening.
‘Growing up, we’d always had a very healthy diet. Everything was made from scratch, with no desserts, while sweets were strictly given only as a Saturday treat.
The mother-of-four would eat a staggering 5,000 calories a day, sometimes having four cheese sandwiches for lunch in a row and following up with lasagna (pictured before losing the weight)
‘But when I reached 16 and had my own money, I found myself able to eat what I wanted, when I wanted, like everybody else I knew – and went wild.’
Weighing 18st when she became engaged to her childhood sweetheart, Paul, at the age of 17, Sarah managed to lose 4st before her wedding day on July 1, 1989, and looked stunning in her ‘Princess Di style’ bridal gown.
‘I would have liked to have been a bit smaller, but I didn’t hate myself on the day and I wasn’t miserable, which was all I wanted,’ she said.
Married life and motherhood played havoc with her waistline, though, and Sarah soon found herself in a ‘never ending cycle’ of yo-yo dieting.
Sarah’s diet before
Breakfast: White toast with butter.
Lunch: Four cheese sandwiches.
Dinner: Lasagna, chips and garlic bread.
Snacks: Mr Kipling cakes and crisps
Sarah’s diet now
Breakfast: Porridge.
Lunch: Green salad.
Dinner: Roasted Mediterranean tray bakes.
No snacks
‘I’d lose three or four stone, but put it all back on – and then some,’ she said.
And, after a surprise pregnancy with Brandon in 2010, Sarah could not shift her baby bulge for love nor money.
‘Brandon was a surprise – albeit a very nice one,’ she said.
‘With my first two pregnancies I was caught in a cycle of gaining and losing the weight. This time, though, I think because I was older, the weight wouldn’t budge at all.
‘Then, after I had Ellouise, I was the biggest I’d ever been in my life and my weight just continued to increase.’
With her eldest son Daniel, 28. When her husband Paul was diagnosed with a heart condition, Sarah grew afraid they would both die, leaving their children without parents
Sarah before the weight loss. She explained that she only kept putting weight on after the birth of her fourth child Ellouise
Describing how she could easily consume 5,000 calories a day – compared to the 2,000 recommended by the NHS – Sarah explained how eating giant portions, combined with constant snacking, made her weight soar.
What is Heart Block?
Heart block is a heart condition where the rhythm of one’s heartbeat is abnormally slow.
It is caused by a problem with the electrical pulses that control the rhythm and rate of the heart.
There exist three degrees of heart block, first degree, which is often non-detected for lack of symptoms, second degree, where some people will experience a few symptoms such as mild light-headedness, and third degree, where patients will experience more symptoms, such as chest pains.
Symptoms vary depending on the degree of the condition, and can go from dizziness to chest pain, fainting and exhaustion.
Source: NHS.uk
Kick starting her day with white toast slathered in butter, Sarah would have four cheese sandwiches for lunch, followed by lasagne, chips and garlic bread for dinner, as well as snacking on Mr Kipling cakes and crisps throughout the day.
‘I was so sick of being overweight,’ she said. ‘I only left the house to take my kids to and from school – I had no reason to leave.’
Then, in March 2018, when Paul had a medical check-up for work, Sarah found herself fearing for her family’s future, after he came home and told her he had been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, known as a ‘heart block.’
‘He seemed quite calm and told me nothing could be done for it,’ she said.
‘So, of course, my mind immediately went to the worst case scenario.
‘All I could think about was our children being left without either of their parents.’
Determined not to waste a single second, by then weighing 25st 13lb, Sarah contacted her local 1:1 Diet consultant, making an appointment to see him the very next day.
‘I hadn’t been happy with myself in years,’ she said. ‘People would stare at me out on the street, doing my food shop, or running errands in town.
‘I couldn’t even go for a quick cuppa in the cafe because all eyes were on me, as I struggled to squeeze between the tables and into a seat.
‘Paul’s diagnosis was the wake-up call I needed.’
Adopting a strict 1,000 calorie diet, Sarah lost an impressive two stone in the first month, she soon began incorporating exercise into her regime – working out up to three times a week and shedding an incredible 13st 2lb in the process.
She now kick starts her day with porridge for breakfast, followed by a green salad for lunch and roasted Mediterranean tray bakes for dinner.
‘Brandon loves running cross country and after his dad jokingly said I should go running with him, he wouldn’t drop the idea so I did,’ said Sarah.
The mother-of-four admitted she had not been happy with herself for a long time and hated being started at in the street due to her weight (pictured during her weight loss with Ellouise)
Paul and Sarah looking dapper. Paul joked that Sarah should go do some cross country running with their son Brandon, which Sarah did
‘I can’t keep up with him, as he’s so full of beans. But if you’d have told me I’d be cross country running with my son 18 months ago, I’d have laughed in your face.’
Encouraged by her weight loss consultant to enter the 1:1 Diet annual awards in the ‘Life Changer’ category, Sarah was blown away when she won the gong in December last year.
‘Paul being Paul, he told me I should use the award to become a 1:1 Diet consultant myself,’ she continued.
‘I wasn’t too sure. I hadn’t worked since having Brandon, but Paul make a good point – saying it would be good for me to have a job in case anything does happen to him further down the line.’
So, taking the bull by the horns, she has just been accepted as a 1:1 Diet consultant and now has five slimmers signed up and ready to take her lead and battle their bulges in 2020.
‘My life has completely changed since I decided to sign up with diet,’ she said.
‘I’m healthy, I’m working and I’m helping other people to follow my lead.
‘I thought I’d never get there at one point, but just look at me now – I’m a size 12 and still struggle to believe it.
‘If I can do it, anyone can. ‘
Source: Read Full Article