You’ll never believe it: The anniversary photo gift that made me lose 8st
Decades of eating badly meant Natasha Locker was morbidly obese. But then she got exactly the push she needed – from her husband...
Watching my husband’s face as I opened up my first anniversary gift, I could tell how excited he was. But as I tore open the wrapping paper, I felt a lump forming in my throat.
‘Thanks,’ I choked, trying my best to sound convincing. But Rob, now 39, frowned. ‘Don’t you like it?’ he asked. ‘It’s lovely,’ I lied, holding back tears.
Rob had blown up our wedding photo onto an A4 canvas. For any other newlywed, it would be a thoughtful gift, but all I could see was my body bursting out of my size 28 dress. Before, the photo had been safely hidden away in the wedding album in the bottom of my wardrobe.
As a child I'd been slim, but when I was 11, I was helping my mum in the kitchen when a chip pan full of hot cooking oil toppled onto me.
I was left with horrendous injuries to my legs and stomach, and had to have six skin grafts. I spent six months in a wheelchair. While my friends were going out to the cinema, I couldn’t even go to the toilet on my own.
I started comfort eating, helping myself to packets of biscuits and crisps and piling on weight.
‘You’ll soon lose it when you get back on your feet,’ my mum Carolyn said. But by the time I’d learned to walk again, my eating habits were out of control. When I left school I was a size 18 and 15st. The bullies were relentless, and I didn’t go to my prom because I was so down about my weight.
Soon after, I started attending the local college near my home in Doncaster. There was a KFC nearby, and I'd go five times a week for fried chicken with chips.
Within two years, I was 18st. Hiding my bulky frame in size 20 clothes, I couldn’t bear the way I looked.
I thought I'd be alone forever, but soon after, I got a boyfriend, and in February 2008 I discovered I was pregnant. It was a shock, but as my pregnancy progressed I couldn’t wait to be a mum.
‘I’m eating for two,’ I told Mum every time I tucked into a big plate of chips. By the time my son Keegan was born in October 2008, I weighed almost 20st.
I split up with Keegan’s dad when he was nine months old. A single mum at just 19, I was desperate to get healthy for my son. I became obsessed, starving myself and going to the gym for two hours a day.
Constant snacking
By September 2009 I’d lost 7st. One afternoon, I was on Facebook when I saw Rob’s profile pop up as someone I might know. He was so handsome, I decided to send him a message. ‘Fancy meeting up?’ I asked when we’d been chatting for a while. Two weeks later, we met up for coffee. Like me, Rob, then 30, had a son from a previous
‘i’d go to KFC five times a week’
relationship. Three weeks later we'd moved in together. In December 2009, I realised I was pregnant.
‘That was quick,’ Rob grinned. This time, I monitored my eating and by the time Kallum was born on 8 August 2010, I’d only gained a stone.
But having two babies under two started to take its toll. I was constantly tired, so I snacked on biscuits and crisps.
‘I need to go on a diet,’ I moaned to Rob every time I spotted myself in the mirror.
‘You're beautiful,’ he assured me.
In October 2010 I was feeding Kallum in bed when Rob sat up.
‘Shall we get married?’ he asked.
It wasn’t the proposal I’d dreamt of, but I was delighted.
I was determined to be a slim bride, but my dieting only lasted a matter of days. With our wedding 11 months away, I went dress shopping with my mum.
At 5ft and 17st 7lb, I was sure I wouldn’t find anything that would suit me, but Mum picked out a princessstyle dress Trying it on, I felt beautiful. ‘You look perfect,’ Mum said. But then I spotted the label. It was a size 28 – the biggest I’d ever been. My wedding day, at St Hilda’s church on 20 April 2013, was the best day of my life, but when the photographer sent us the pictures two weeks later I hated every one. I was so dumpy next to tall, slender Rob. ‘I look disgusting,’ I sobbed, locking our wedding album away. But one year on, in April 2014, Rob’s anniversary gift was the catalyst I needed.
Full of energy
That day, I weighed myself: 19st 7lb. I started a juice diet and lost a stone, but needed a lifestyle change that would last. I joined Slimming World online in August 2015. Instead of snacking on biscuits, I ate overnight oats every morning, and before long I didn’t feel the need to snack. By February 2016 I weighed 14st 12lb, and I even joined a gym. It paid off. A year later I reached my target weight of 11st. Slipping into size 12 jeans, I couldn’t believe how far I'd come. Instead of feeling tired and out of breath, I felt full of energy and good about myself for the first time ever. Looking back, I feel sad that I walked down the aisle so unhappy with my body. But every time I look at my wedding photo, I’m reminded of the battle I have won.
‘i couldn’t believe how far i had come’