A woman who gained 7 stone and seven dress sizes while pregnant has showed off her incredible six-pack which she honed with the help of YouTube exercise videos.
Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, developed an ‘insatiable’ craving for cheesy Doritos crisps – and continued to eat for two after her baby was born.
Previously a fit and healthy size 8, Katie gained 7 stone and ballooned to a size 22 after developing a voracious appetite at the six-week mark when expecting her second daughter Maisey in 2016.
Now back in shape thanks to healthy eating and YouTube workout videos, the stay-at-home mother-of two recalled: ‘I was just very hungry all the time. It never seemed to go away as much as I ate.
Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, piled on 7 stone while pregnant in 2016 (left), but the mother-of two has since shed an incredible seven dress sizes and honed an enviable six-pack (right)
Stay-at-home Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, pictured in 2015 before falling pregnant. While expecting her daughter she developed an ‘insatiable’ appetite for cheesy Doritos causing her to pile on the pounds – which she subsequently lost thanks to the help of YouTube videos
‘It got to the stage where I would always have something in my hand, and it was never anything healthy.’
Enjoying a carbohydrate-heavy pregnancy diet mainly consisting of crisps and chocolates, Katie acquired a particular taste for Doritos, eating two large packets every day.
The cheese-flavoured tortilla chips are sold in smaller 40g bags, but Katie would eat the 180g sharing bags, each containing nearly 900 calories.
‘I was aware that what I was eating wasn’t healthy, but I tried to ignore it and carry on,’ she said.
‘Eating like this was just easy. There was no preparation time and I didn’t have to think. I knew it wasn’t good but I couldn’t stop.’
Katie Bailey during her pregnancy when she piled on the pounds. Enjoying a carbohydrate-heavy pregnancy diet mainly consisting of crisps and chocolates, Katie acquired a particular taste for Doritos, eating two large packets every day – and ballooned by seven dress sizes
Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, during her pregnancy in 2016. ‘It got to the stage where I would always have something in my hand, and it was never anything healthy,’ she recalled
After giving birth to 8 lbs 2 oz Maisey in March 2016 by caesarean, Katie – who also has Mia-Louise, seven – soon decided she had put too much weight on.
She said: ‘I had put on weight before with my first baby, but not nearly as much as with my second. With Mia-Louise I put on about 4 stone, but with Maisey it was closer to 7 stone.’
Previously weighing 9 stone pre-pregnancy, Katie now found herself weighing 16 stone.
‘It was what I had feared would happen, and it came true, and afterwards, looking at myself in the mirror, I just felt horrible,’ she said.
‘What made me most upset and self-conscious was the state of my tummy. So I would try to cover it up by wearing big baggy tops and heavy jumpers.’
After gaining 7 stone during pregnancy, Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, is now back in shape thanks to healthy eating and YouTube workout videos
Single mum Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, shows off her new figure. Revealing she has reentered the dating world since losing weight, she said: ‘I really don’t think I’d have had the confidence to get back on the dating scene before I lost all that weight’
Proud slimmer Katie Bailey, from Stevenage, shows off her new figure. Explaining the secret behind her weight loss, she said: ‘It isn’t complicated, but I feel like I have learnt so much about health over the last few months. Now I know that I could never let my body get that way again’
Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, with eldest daughter Mia-Louise. Following a lengthy battle with her weight, she is now back to her previous size 8 and says she is fitter than ever
Sadly, Katie’s weight concerns were not made any better by cruel comments from strangers, who would sometimes make jibes as she pushed Maisey’s pram down the street.
‘For a long time after giving birth to Maisey, I stayed in my pregnancy jeans, and sometimes people would ask sarcastically if I was still pregnant or not,’ recalled Katie, who is no longer with her daughters’ father.
Being ‘fat-shamed’ in public was hurtful and humiliating but for six months after Maisey was born, Katie struggled to shake her bad eating habits. She continued to eat crisps and chocolate because it had become such an ingrained habit.
Then in September 2016, she decided that enough was enough and that she would enrol on a healthy lifestyle plan to get her back to her previous size.
Katie Bailey on holiday with daughters Maisey and Mia-Louise. She had piled on the pounds during her second pregnancy and struggled to shift the extra 7 stone
Katie shortly after welcoming daughter Maisey. When she began eating more healthily, the weight ‘dropped off’ her in months
Weight loss programme Results with Lucy, a major UK fitness platform, helped Katie to cut out the crisps and the chocolates from her diet and replace them with healthy salads and smoothies.
Her typical breakfast became a kale and spinach smoothie, for lunch she would choose a tuna salad and later she would eat a chicken stir-fry for dinner.
At the same time, Katie also found a way to take up regular exercise by working out to YouTube clips for yoga, Pilates and dance routines.
She said: ‘It was a bit of a struggle at first. I’ve never been a really active person and didn’t do much exercise even before my first pregnancy.
‘Having two kids makes it difficult to get out, and having to get a babysitter just to go to the gym or for a run would be silly. But I love the exercise video clips because it’s so easy for me to do.
Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, with daughter Mia-Louise in 2015. She previously weighed 9 stone and a size 8, a weight to which she has since returned after discovering exercise videos
Single mum Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, in 2015 before her second pregnancy. Now dating again after splitting up from her daughters’ father five months ago, Katie said shedding 14 dress sizes has given her back her self-esteem
‘The girls also love it and my eldest often wants to join in when I do one of the dance videos. She says, ‘Mummy, if you’re getting fit, then so am I!’
‘Mia-Louise can also be quite a fussy eater, but since I’ve started losing weight she has been inspired herself to eat better food.’
Amazed at how quickly the weight ‘dropped off’ her, within a month Katie had lost a stone.
Finally, after just eight months, Katie was back to her former size 8.
Comfortably able to fit into all the clothes in her wardrobe, she feels so much more body confident and will even wear tight tops to show off her flat tummy.
Now dating again after splitting up from her daughters’ father five months ago, Katie said shedding 14 dress sizes has given her back her self-esteem.
Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, shortly after giving birth two youngest daughter Maisey. During her pregnancy, her weight concerns were not made any better by cruel comments from strangers, who would sometimes make jibes as she pushed Maisey’s pram down the street
Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, shortly after giving birth to her second daughter Maisey (pictured with Maisey and Mia-Louise). The stay-at-home mum, who has since shed the weight, recalled: ‘I was just very hungry all the time. It never seemed to go away as much as I ate’
Katie Bailey, 30, from Stevenage, with daughters Maisey and Mia-Louise. She has shed an impressive seven dress sizes and honed a six-pack after shifting her pregnancy weight
‘I have met someone online and we have been chatting for a while and met up a few times. It’s early days but it is going well,’ she said.
‘I really don’t think I’d have had the confidence to get back on the dating scene before I lost all that weight.’
People still make comments, but these days they are all good ones.
Katie explained: ‘I get a lot of attention from the way I look now which is fantastic and feels great. They don’t say rude things anymore like they used to, but instead stop to compliment me or ask how it is I lost so much weight.
‘To which I say, you just have to eat healthily and exercise. It isn’t complicated, but I feel like I have learnt so much about health over the last few months. Now I know that I could never let my body get that way again.’