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A mum-of-five lostmore than ten stone after being horrified to hear her teenage son’s friend tell him: "Your mum is so fat."

Nicola Singleton, 38, weighed 21 and a half stone at her heaviest in 2021. The mum from Leeds, West Yorkshire, said her ‘addiction’ to food saw her end up wearing size 26/28 clothes.

She would skip breakfastthen end up snacking on crisps and chocolate throughout the day and eat pizzas or Chinese takeaways for dinner.

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But her life changed forever when a cruel comment forced her to take action. Her eldest son brought a friend over and she overheard him comment on her weight, she decided she didn’t want to be an embarrassment to her children any more.

Nicola, a single mum, said: “I’ve always struggled with my weight. In primary school and high school, I was bullied for being bigger which, in turn, made me comfort eat even more.

“I’ve tried so many diets throughout my life – my mum took me to Slimming World at 14, I’ve tried Slimfast, a diet called Herbal Life, the ketone diet, one diet where I only ate ham. You name it, I’ve given it a go.

“I would lose a few stone but would always struggle to keep the weight off. It’s been a vicious cycle. I started a bootcamp in 2014 and lost quite a lot of weight but then I was involved in a car accident when another driver hit me head on and I was left wheelchair bound for five months.

“I was unable to exercise and just ate and ate and ate. My dad tragically passed away from cancer in 2018 and eating was what I did to feel better.

“Then one day my eldest son (aged 13) brought some friends round and they were all in the garden. I took them out some pizzas and, as I left, I heard one of them say, ‘your mum is so fat’. It was a throwaway comment.

“I was mortified and realised my weight was an embarrassment to my son. I was heartbroken and I was so disgusted in myself. I knew then I had to do something about it.

"I thought I was a real failure as a mother for letting myself get that big. I even had a little cry - I felt like a massive embarrassment to my kids.

"...But I have to said since I'm really pleased his friend said that in front of me because if he hadn't, I might not have been triggered to do something about my weight." She added: "My kids are so proud of me and how much weight I've lost."

Nicola started looking atgastric bypass surgery and was recommended a consultant in the UK that a family member had used before.

Nicola said: “Once I started researching, the operation got organised quite quickly and I went under the knife in October 2021.”

Nicola’s recovery took about six weeks and the weight started dropping off. She got down to 10st 10lb at her lowest and now wears size 10 dresses. She has completely overhauled her diet and now regularly eats avocado and eggs for breakfast, salad or pasta for lunch and jacket potatoes or chicken wraps for dinner.

She said: “Everything I eat is much healthier but also in much smaller quantities. I do still like crisps and chocolate as snacks but I’ll eat one bag of crisps or one or two squares of chocolate. Nothing like what I used to eat.”

Nicola is also a regular at the gym and has even started modelling. She’s had a number of professional photoshoots done and has appeared on the cover of a couple of tattoo magazines in America and one magazine in Australia. She said: “I’ve always had tattoos but since I’ve stopped eating as much, they’ve become my drug. If I feel a bit low, I get a tattoo instead of eating.”

Nicola’s weight has now settled around 11st 5lbs and she says she’s much happier with how she looks. She said: “I realised I’ve got to live my life to the fullest, life’s too short not to enjoy it. I still struggle sometimes with not being able to eat as much because food was my crutch but overall I’m so much happier and healthier now.”

DIET BEFORE

Breakfast – would skip

Lunch – sandwiches and chips

Dinner – kids’ leftovers/pizza/Chinese takeaway

Snacks – crisps and chocolate

DIET AFTER

Breakfast – brown toast with avocado and eggs

Lunch – salad/pasta

Dinner – chicken wraps/jacket potato and salad/BBQ meat/stews in winter

Snacks – one bag of crisps or one square of chocolate

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