A gran-of-eight who was 'depressed and in pain' because of her weight has shed an incredible 18st after taking up bodybuilding. Dee Hodgson suffered from various health conditions caused by her obesity, including type 2 diabetes, and was on 20 different types of medication for her physical and mental health.
Deciding enough was enough, the 53-year-old started changing her daily habits and ditched processed food and sugary snacks in favour of a healthier diet. At her heaviest, Dee weighed 28st 11lbs and required a walking frame. After a year of healthy eating, she made her first visit to the gym and started exercising regularly, the Mirror reports.
It wasn't long before she fell in love with bodybuilding, with the gran saying she now feels like a “completely different person” thanks to the sport. Dee said: "I tried my hand at bodybuilding - and absolutely loved it. Now I've lost 18st
.
"I have so much more energy, I'm so much happier - it's completely changed my life. I did a lot of classes to start with, but when I started working with a personal trainer, I developed a passion for weights.
"He introduced me to weightlifting and that was the start of my bodybuilding journey." Dee said her personal trainer, Josh Bothwell, has "helped me more than I could ever say" adding that her friends at Warriors World gym in Coventry "have been integral to my journey".
Her new found love for the gym quickly yielded results and she can now leg press 335kg, deadlift 80kg and bench press 46kg. She is now being coached by Lisa Morrison, a UKUP/WUP pro athlete and also trains at Simply Gym, Earl Place, Coventry.
"I’ve done a couple of dance competitions to raise money for charity," she said. "I’m competing in a body building competition in November in High Wycombe. I’m in the transformation class, so it’s all about the journey.
"They will show a ‘before’ picture before I come out on stage. It’s about showcasing the way you’ve built your body.
"I’m petrified but really excited! I’ve always had body image issues but this is all part of my recovery.
"It’s so far out of my comfort zone, I’ll be out in a tiny bikini with all my scars and loose skin on show, but I hope that it will inspire others.” Recalling the start of her journey, she said she lacked mobility which was “so limiting” and found herself in “pain all the time”.
She said: “I thought I was happy but I look back now and I realise I was depressed and in pain. My life was very limited and I was very dependent on people, which was hard as I’m very independent. It was embarrassing for me."
Dee, a gran-of-eight, opted to follow a "caveman diet" – only eating natural foods, including eggs and vegetables. "My new diet was very basic and that made it easier to stick to," she said.
"I didn’t notice the weight loss at first, but when I hit six stone down, I realised that it was working and I might as well keep going. People were noticing the difference and I was feeling more mobile and healthier, and I realised that a different life really was achievable."
In her first year Dee lost 12 stone and then joined her local fitness centre where she found a passion for fitness. It was from there she discovered bodybuilding.
As well as losing so much weight she had two stone of saggy skin cut off following her transformation. Dee, who now weighs 11st 11lbs, said she now “feels like a new woman”.
She added: "My weight got out of control. At first, I wasn't dieting to lose weight, I just wanted to feel better and to help ease the symptoms of my health conditions.
"But the pounds quickly fell off me and it gave me the motivation to keep going. I started going to the gym and fell in love with working out. “
Dee also revealed her weight had impacted her family too as her son Will, 33, said his mother would die. She said: “My body was collapsing because I was obese, and once I lost the weight, I wasn’t in pain anymore.
"I remember about a year into my journey, I was playing tag with my eldest granddaughter, and she turned around and said: ‘Nanny, I didn’t know that you can run. And it’s moments like that, that make it all worthwhile.
"Bodybuilding has changed my life and I don’t use that phrase lightly. I now look at myself with pride. I’m taking back the years that were stolen from me and owning my future.”
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