Devon mother too ashamed to do the school run loses 13 stone

An overweight mother-of-two has shed an incredible 13 stone after becoming too ashamed of her size to do the school run.

Jennifer Arlett, 28, from Barnstaple, North Devon, was embarrassed to be seen in public after her weight ballooned to 27 stone.

At her heaviest, the shoe shop assistant would regularly eat leftover takeaway food for breakfast, eat a multi-pack of crisps in one sitting, and go to her local shop to buy junk food instead of a home-cooked meal.

But when Jennifer’s five-year-old daughter Amelia started school, she decided she wanted to become a better mother and lead a healthier lifestyle. 

Now after attending Slimming World classes she has dropped seven dress sizes, from a size 26 to a size 12, and currently weighs a much healthier 14 stone.

She has since shed an incredible 13 stone by signing up to Slimming World and has even dropped three shoe sizes

Transformation: Jennifer Arlett, 28, from Barnstaple, North Devon, was embarrassed to be seen in public after her weight ballooned to 27 stone (left)  but she has since shed an incredible 13 stone by signing up to Slimming World (right) and has even dropped three shoe sizes

Jennifer, who is now set to marry her fiancé said: ‘When I was at my heaviest I couldn’t walk five minutes to the shop without getting out of breath.

‘I just stayed inside, it didn’t go out much and I felt really self conscious. Many people would look at me in the street and it made me feel anxious, I couldn’t get involved in socialising because I felt that people were looking and laughing at me.

‘I have so much shame about it. I was depressed at the time and I was struggling doing simple things. 

‘On the school runs, people were looking at me and it made me feel like they were judging me, it was sad. I struggled to walk along the road with my daughter and I thought to myself: “What kind of life is that?”‘

Jennifer added: ‘I think I have always struggled with food addiction. I’ve always been bigger, ever since I was a teenager. I just never got out of the habit and it got worse. I felt ashamed that I couldn’t take Amelia out to the park. She didn’t go swimming until last year.

‘Things like that made me feel like a bad mum. She was missing out on so much, I couldn’t play with her and run around with her, I struggled to do the simplest of things with her. I even struggled to do housework because I felt so big.’

Jennifer before losing the weight. At her heaviest, the shoe shop assistant would regularly eat leftover takeaway food for breakfast, eat a multi-pack of crisps in one sitting

Jennifer before losing the weight. At her heaviest, the shoe shop assistant would regularly eat leftover takeaway food for breakfast, eat a multi-pack of crisps in one sitting

Jennifer's health was at risk after she soared to 27 stone and go to her local shop to buy junk food instead of a home-cooked meal

Jennifer has since almost halved her body size

Jennifer’s health was at risk after she soared to 27 stone and go to her local shop to buy junk food instead of a home-cooked meal (left); she has since almost halved her body size (right)

Jennifer at her heaviest. Reflecting on her size before shedding the weight, she said: 'I have so much shame about it. I was depressed at the time and I was struggling doing simple things'

Jennifer at her heaviest. Reflecting on her size before shedding the weight, she said: ‘I have so much shame about it. I was depressed at the time and I was struggling doing simple things’

Describing her food intake before her weight loss, Jennifer said: ‘My diet before I lost the weight was terrible, I was a bit nocturnal. I ate late at night and woke up late in the afternoon. I had five or six Chinese takeaways a week.

‘I would go to the shop and buy a huge carrier bag of rubbish food. I ate a massive amount of calories. I stayed inside most of the time.

‘I didn’t think anything going down to the shops, which was just a five minute walk, and getting a carrier bag full of rubbish food. I’d didn’t eat proper meals.’  

Explaining how her life has changed since losing the weight, Jennifer said: ‘Over time things have improved for me, I was able to play around with my girls, and it makes me happy to know I’m going to be around to see them grow up and that I’m going to be healthy. 

Jennifer before embarking on her diet. When Jennifer's five-year-old daughter Amelia started school, she decided she wanted to become a better mother and lead a healthier lifestyle

Jennifer before embarking on her diet. When Jennifer’s five-year-old daughter Amelia started school, she decided she wanted to become a better mother and lead a healthier lifestyle

Jennifer with her children. After attending Slimming World classes and has dropped seven dress sizes, from a size 26 to a size 12, and currently weighs a much healthier 14 stone

Jennifer with her children. After attending Slimming World classes and has dropped seven dress sizes, from a size 26 to a size 12, and currently weighs a much healthier 14 stone

‘I feel amazing, I have so much more energy. I had gall stones caused by my weight, they’ve gone since I’ve lost it all.

‘I used to have [irritable bowel syndrome] and that’s subsided. I was told I wasn’t able to have children, but those symptoms have gone now.

‘I used to struggle with my knees and ankles. My knees used to give way, I don’t have that problem anymore. I used to struggle walking down the road, or going up and down stairs and doctors told me I was going to die if I didn’t do something.

‘Now I feel like a different person. I’m so much happier with myself. I was a size 24-26 and now I am a 12-14. Even my shoe size has changed, my feet have gone from a 9 to a 6. Being a mum is really stressful, even when you have not struggled losing weight.

Speaking of her body transformation, Jennifer said: 'I feel amazing, I have so much more energy. I had gall stones caused by my weight, they've gone since I've lost it all'

Speaking of her body transformation, Jennifer said: ‘I feel amazing, I have so much more energy. I had gall stones caused by my weight, they’ve gone since I’ve lost it all’

Reflecting on how her quality of life has improved, Jennifer said: 'I used to have [irritable bowel syndrome] and that's subsided. I was told I wasn't able to have children, but those symptoms have gone now'

Reflecting on how her quality of life has improved, Jennifer said: ‘I used to have [irritable bowel syndrome] and that’s subsided. I was told I wasn’t able to have children, but those symptoms have gone now’

Jennifer with her daughter Amelia. She said: 'Now I feel like a different person. I'm so much happier with myself. I was a size 24-26 and now I am a 12-14'

Jennifer with her daughter Amelia. She said: ‘Now I feel like a different person. I’m so much happier with myself. I was a size 24-26 and now I am a 12-14’

‘I always felt like a bad mum to my girls as I wanted to spend more time with them and felt like I couldn’t. Now we now do loads of things together, we go swimming, we go on long walks. We used to be cooped up, I didn’t have the confidence to take her anywhere, she lost out on a massive part of her life and I am ashamed of that.

‘It’s literally given me my life back. It’s massively helped my health problems. I’m now able to see my girls grow up.

‘It’s never too late, if it wasn’t for the group I would have never been able to do this. I just took one step at a time. I went at my own pace.

‘You’ve got the rest of your life to do it. It’s changed my life and made me so much happier. I used to read about women in magazines losing weight and it was inspiring, so it’s amazing to become that woman’.

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