A mum whose obesity forced her to give up hairdressing says she’s got her sparkle back for the first time in years after losing almost eight stone.
Nikki Bailey ballooned to 26 stone at her heaviest and suffered with severe hip arthritis, meaning she couldn’t stand up for long.
The 37-year-old said her mobility was ‘extremely bad’ and found herself fighting back tears of pain at the simplest of tasks like changing her baby’s nappy.
It was at that point Nikki, who lives with her partner and also has a 12-year-old daughter, decided enough was enough.
She discovered diet and meal replacement brand exante and embarked on a healthy lifestyle journey in April 2022 which has seen her shift 7.7 stone, dropping from a size 22-24 to 12-14,, Hull Live reports.
Now a comfortable 12st 7lbs, Nikki has returned to her passion for creative hair colouring and also works as a part-time teaching assistant in a special educational needs school - a physically demanding job she says it wouldn’t have been possible for her to do before.
Nikki said: “I was bullied from primary school onwards for my weight because it’s always been an issue. I remember always feeling different to everyone else, which really affected my mental health.
“I lost weight several times over the years and basically tried every diet going, they worked for a short time but the minute I stopped it piled back on, until now.
“My weight put my last pregnancy at risk. I was put on blood-thinning injections for the last three months of it and two months after giving birth, because my BMI meant I could have developed blood clots.
“I’ve had arthritis in my hips for years and had really bad flare ups at times, especially when I was trying to be more active and lose weight.
“It came to a head after I had my son in December 2021, I tried to go back to the gym and lose some weight but the pain was so severe my mobility really suffered. That affected my mental health even more and I ended up putting on another two stone. Even changing my son’s nappy would end with me in tears because of the pain.”
For the first three months of her diet, Nikki consumed around 800 calories a day with a mix of three of exante’s nutritionally-complete meal replacement shakes , meals and other products, alongside a low-calorie healthy meal.
“The first month was hard, but after that it became just what I did,” she added. “The pain in my hips started to ease so I kept going, I started walking more and dancing.
“I upped my calorie intake slightly to 1,200 after three months and started having a healthy meal alongside four meal replacement products, usually chicken with vegetables or salad.
“I carried on with this hard work, eventually losing a total of seven-and-a-half stone. For the first time in my life I’ve managed to maintain my weight and I still use the products to control my calories when I need to - especially on days when I’m not able to make the best meal choices.
“Losing weight this time has changed just about everything in my life, I’m not sad anymore, I’m not in pain every day and I don’t need medication.
“I’ve been able to pick my career in hairdressing back up, I wanted to start again years ago but I never had the confidence in myself and I struggled to stand up for as long as I needed to, that isn’t a problem now.
“I work part-time supporting children with behavioural and mental health issues and it’s so physically demanding, I couldn’t have done that before.
“This time I was truly ready, I had to make losing weight my whole focus. As a mum and partner we sometimes feel selfish for doing something for ourselves - but we need to look after ourselves in order to look after everyone else. My relationship with my partner has changed for the better and I can be more physically involved in my children’s lives.”
Exante said its meal replacements contain 27 vitamins and minerals to help people meet their daily nutrient requirements. Nikki would gradually like to lose a further 7lbs once she has moved house.
Nikki, from Scunthorpe, added: “I’ve learned what my body does and doesn’t need and using exante has taught me about proper portion control.
“I never had that before, I’d sometimes eat clean, healthy meals but then have half a cake in one sitting. My favourite shake is the mocha frappe-flavoured shake and I always look forward to a bar with a brew in the evening as my treat.”
