Natalie Lea describes the moment her heart almost stopped beating as one of the scariest experiences of her life.
But what the mum-of-two didn’t know was that the brush with death would lead to a life-changing transformation – seeing her drop seven dress sizes from a size 30 to a size 16.
Natalie had not long returned home from Stockport Market when she suddenly became unwell in November 2021. She was lying on her sofa when she momentarily fell unconscious, prompting her to shout for help.
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But when she went to scream, nothing came out. After a few terrifying minutes of being completely paralysed, the 42-year-old managed to call her sister who took her to hospital.
Natalie, from Offerton, believed she had suffered a stroke. But she’d actually been shocked by her implantable cardioverter-defibrillator – a small battery-powered device she had implanted in her chest after being diagnosed with severe heart failure. The machine is used to restore irregular heart rhythms.
The health scare gave Natalie the push she needed to turn her life around for good. The mum had struggled with her weight following the death of her father in October 2021, ballooning to a size 30.
Just a few months after her terrifying incident, Natalie decided to embark on a weight loss journey in January 2022. Though she was losing weight at home, she decided to sign up to her local Slimming World group for extra help and support.
Attending group meetings every week and following a diet plan, Natalie quickly began to shed the pounds – going on to lose an incredible seven-and-a-half stone. Currently, she estimates she is a size 16.
Recalling her health scare, she said: “This hit me hard; it was one of the scariest moments of my life.
“This is when I realised I drastically needed to change my lifestyle, not just for me but so I could watch my two beautiful girls grow up.”
Natalie developed a complicated relationship with food following the death of her father. She would either binge eat takeaways and unhealthy ready meals or eat nothing at all.
"I began not eating properly, either not eating at all or just grabbing a takeaway,” she continued. “[I was] just generally not looking after myself as I should as I suffer with severe heart failure and being obese was not good for me or the strain it was putting on my already very weak heart.”
These days, her diet looks very different. Natalie only lets herself eat carbs three times a week and her favourite meals include homemade vegetable curry.
“I’m really proud of myself,” she said. “I had such a hard year in 2021 and we had lockdown which didn’t help. I was in the house with my severe heart failure and I was scared to go outside. I definitely snacked more.
"I absolutely love the flexibility Slimming World has given me. I’ still being able to have my favourite foods like curry, lasagne and my favourite burger in a bowl.
“In just over a year, I got my six-and-a-half stone award. I also won Women of The Year 2022 and the Greatest Loser 2023.
"I can’t thank Kat and my group enough for all their support, I couldn’t have done it without their help and inspiration as well as the support of my family and friends.
“My life has changed so much – for the better. I’ve still got a little way to go but this has really changed my life.
“I’m so much happier and confident within myself and I'm not scared about the future. Seven-and-a-half stone gone forever.”
Natalie's diet before her weight loss:
Breakfast
- Always skipped breakfast
Lunch
- Two ham and cheese toasties, a large white baguette with bacon and cheese and three crumpets with lots of butter
Snacks
- Crisps or chocolate
Tea
- Easy oven or microwave meal e.g. sausage and chips with beans. At the weekend, takeaway kebabs or curry washed down with a few glasses of red wine
Natalie's diet now
Breakfast
- Fruit, usually mixed berries with fat-free Greek yoghurt
Lunch
- Either poached eggs on wholemeal bread with ham and lots of tinned tomatoes, chicken breast with cottage cheese and half a plate of salad, homemade soup or Slimming World's crust-less quiche with salad
Snacks
- Pears, a punnet of blueberries or crab sticks
Tea
- Either Chinese five-spice chicken with Slimming World chips and purple broccoli stems, homemade meatballs in a Syn-free sauce with boiled rice and asparagus, homemade chili with cauliflower rice or lemon pepper chicken with courgette.
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