A woman has lost eight stone in just a year after undergoing weight loss surgery and ditching her £800-a-month takeaway habit.
Hairdresser Chelsea Askey opted for easy food options while working many hours in the salon, and weighed 16st 8lbs at her heaviest.
The 32-year-old said she used to spend £30 per day on junk food such as McDonald's for her lunch, followed by another takeaway for her dinner.
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Chelsea, from East Cowes, Isle of Wight, soon became fed up with her size 20 frame and decided to undergo gastric bypass surgery, where surgical staples are used to create a small pouch at the top of the stomach.
Chelsea said the £5,000 surgery was "worth every penny", the Mirror reports, as she has now changed her diet and weighs a healthy 8st 7lbs.
She said: “I have always been the ‘fat friend’ but my diet really spiralled out of control when I started focussing on my career rather than my health.
“As a self-employed hairdresser, there is no such thing as a lunch break so I would grab something quick daily for breakfast and lunch then order a takeaway as I was too tired to cook.
“I would just eat whatever I could such as a large Big Mac meal with extra chicken nuggets to fill me up for the day followed by sweet and sour chicken and chips from the Chinese.
“On top of that, I was snacking throughout the day on crisps, chocolate and biscuits as clients always brought in naughty treats.
“Eventually, it got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying life anymore as my health began to decline.
"I was hospitalised with kidney stones and the doctor said I was at risk of diabetes."
The health scare encouraged Chelsea to look into gastric bypass surgery.
She chose to have the surgery abroad as it is cheaper, and flew to Latvia in October 2020.
Chelsea continued: "I was unhappy in my own skin and always wearing black clothes to try and slim me down.
“Being told I was on the diabetes spectrum was very concerning.
“I began slowing down my work and went to see a counsellor to try and understand why I was eating so much.
“I was also put on a liquid diet ahead of the surgery which helped shrink my stomach and get used to life without takeaways.
“By the time I flew to Latvia, I was determined to lead a healthier life on my return.”
Chelsea describes the surgery as the "best thing" she has ever done.
She is now a size eight and prepares her meals ahead of the week to ensure she doesn’t revert back to her old ways.
She added: “I lost two stone in two weeks when I got back from the surgery.
“It was hard to adjust to the rapid weight loss at first but now I couldn’t be happier.
“My skin, hair and everything was shinier and glossier.
“I am really lucky as [I've had] no saggy skin. I feel like I could stand in a room naked and not feel insecure about my body.
"The weight loss has helped ease the symptoms of polycystic ovaries syndrome too."
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