Living proof
Wendi Dean, 32, from Cannock, lost half her body weight, while facing overwhelming grief… Before After
Raiding the kitchen cupboards, I crammed a few chocolate biscuits into my pockets and dashed into my bedroom. Made it, I thought to myself as I shut the door behind me.
If Mum had caught me, she would’ve gone mad.
I’d already had a big dinner, but like always, I was still hungry.
Aged 13, I’d always been the bigger girl at school, and it was mostly down to my snacking.
While Mum cooked big dinners, I didn’t help myself with my constant snacking on top.
Crisps, chocolate, you name it - whatever I could get my hands on in between meals, I would eat.
I knew I had a problem, but I wasn’t interested in doing anything about it any time soon.
‘What about exercise?’ the school nurse asked me one afternoon, during one of our weekly meetings that had been set up to help me lose some weight.
‘I hate it,’ I replied.
P.E was only made worse when the school gym kit became too small for me and I had to get it specially made.
It was mortifying, but not even the relentless teasing made me do anything about my size.
By the time I’d reached my late teens, all of my school friends had boyfriends whilst I was left on the shelf.
I put it down to my weight, but instead of doing something about it, I was only letting myself get bigger.
Browsing the rails in New Look one Saturday afternoon with my friends, I realised I was now too big to fit into even their largest size.
‘Are you trying anything on Wendi?’ one of the girls shouted over from the changing rooms.
‘Don’t think so,’ I replied sheepishly, tyring to hide the real reason.
‘I think I’ll get this,’ I said pointing to a purse instead.
After school, I moved out on my own, but my eating habits went from bad to worse.
With nobody there to tell me off if I was eating too much, I’d gorge on takeaways and snack on junk food in between meals as much as I liked.
My weight seemed to spiral, and I was now squeezing myself into size 32 clothes.
So, when an old school friend, Clifford, now 32, got in touch in 2008, I was totally gobsmacked.
Back at school, he’d dated a few of my friends.
They were all slim size eights, so I never thought he’d fancy me, but we soon became inseparable. He didn’t care about the way I looked and loved me just as I was. ‘You look amazing, babe,’ he’d reassure whenever I had a wobble about my size.
Although, I wasn’t feeling quite so confident.
But before long, Clifford and I got married, and in 2010 we welcomed our daughter, Sophie and just over a year later our son, Luke, along with Clifford’s children from a previous relationship, Izzy, Josh and Lucy.
My pregnancies weren’t easy, and I had to be monitored due to my size but thankfully, both Sophie and Luke were perfectly healthy. But after having them both, I suffered with postnatal depression and my weight hit an all time high.
Feeling so low, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to do anything about it.
But at a routine appointment with my GP in 2012, I had a wake-up call.
‘We’re going to have to take you off the pill,’ the doctor warned me.
‘Your BMI’S hit 60, it’ll be too risky for you to stay on it.’
I was gobsmacked.
‘For most healthy adults an ideal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9,’ the doctor went on.
Listening to him explain all of the ways I was putting my health at risk, I thought of my children.
I knew I needed to lose the weight for them.
In January 2013, I was finally feeling in a good place and ready to give it a go.
Plucking up the courage, I decided to join Slimming World and went to my first weigh in.
Tentatively stepping on the
I was always snacking on junk
scales, I knew I was going to be pushing the 26 stone mark.
And I was right.
‘You’re 26 stone and 5 pounds,’ the consultant said.
Right, letõs do this, I thought to myself.
My goal was to be able to fit into a size 16 dress.
So, the very next day, I started the plan.
I didn’t mix it up too much and stuck to meat and veg.
The following week I’d lost 6 pounds!
‘Well done!’ Clifford encouraged me, when I told him the news. ‘I’m not going to give up,’ I said, chuffed to bits with my first loss.
Every week, I went to the weigh in and watched the weight fall off.
I started being more adventurous with my cooking and soon I didn’t feel like I was missing out on certain foods at all.
I could still have a burger if I fancied it, or a bit of cheese on top of a home cooked spag Bol.
I soon got my one stone, two stone and three stone awards and by the end of the first year, I’d lost a whopping seven stone in total!
For me, Slimming World became an escape from everything else going on in our lives.
That same year, my stepdaughter, Lucy, had sadly relapsed from leukaemia, after being in remission for three years.
It was heart-breaking and Clifford and I were constantly in and out of hospital with her.
But with everything going on, I didn’t let myself give up.
I still attended the weekly weigh ins and made sure I followed the plan, thinking of all the kids along the way.
For a while, my weight felt like the only thing I could control and each week, the number on the scales was getting lower and lower.
Slimming World became my little bit of sanity, when everything else became so difficult.
In 2016, Lucy’s condition sadly worsened and she lost her battle with cancer.
We were all devastated, and I tried my best to support Clifford, who was dealing with his own overwhelming grief.
But we were dealt a double blow when Clifford’s mum, Linda, passed away the following year.
She was my biggest support, but I was just so grateful that she got to see me lose as much of the weight as she did.
It was a horrific time for all of us.
I could have given up there and then, but instead, I decided to stick with it and carried on shedding the pounds.
It was a gradual process but by the end of 2017, I’d finally hit my target weight. ‘I’ve done it!’ I beamed, as I walked through the door after another weigh in.
‘I’m so proud of you,’ Clifford cried.
I was now around 12 stone after losing a whopping 15 stone in total.
Clifford always says he loves me either way, but I felt so much healthier.
After everything we’d been through, to have finally reached my goal was overwhelming.
It had taken me a long time, but over the course of four years, I’d lost over half my body weight!
I even managed to keep the weight off after having my third child, Poppy, in 2018.
Now, browsing the rails in my favourite shops I’ll confidently pick out a size 12 without having to worry they won’t fit.
I’ve even been able to get a whole new wardrobe!
After everything I’ve been through, I’m so proud of myself for carrying on and reaching my goal.
I did it for my kids, and I’m so glad I did.
It just goes to show, no matter how hard life gets, if you want something badly enough you will be able to get it.
I’m living proof of that!
I was finally ready to change