Bedford teaching assistant drops over half her body weight - after family feared for her future

A Bedford woman whose family intervened after she piled on the pounds has managed to drop half her body weight.

Vanessa Warren – known as Ness – weighed 26 stone 13.5lb and felt, in her own words, “worthless, unwanted, fat, disgusting”.

The teaching assistant would think nothing of skipping breakfast, only to binge eat takeaways and microwave meals later.

“I’d have no breakfast, have a lunch meal deal, take out dinner, microwave meals with some homemade meals in the middle,” the 30-year-old said.

And it was only when her family stepped in that Ness decided to make the change.

She said: “My brother messaged me to say that I should think about losing weight as he was worried about me – and that my nephew and niece needed their auntie around to play and help look after them. I felt sad and upset but it was the kick up the butt that I needed.”

And now, Ness has managed to turn her life around by joining Slimming World and weighs an impressive 13 stone 9.5lb.

So how has the weight loss changes Ness’ life?

“I can do a lot more. I have more energy and I can do soft play with my nephew and niece. I have my life back. I can wear nice clothes and I can shop on the high street. I can now run upstairs, go on soft play and slides. So much,” she added.

A typical day for Ness:

Breakfast – fruit, porridge or Weetabix

Lunch – either leftovers from night before or ham, cucumber tomatoes, soup, beans and fruit

Dinner – home cooked meal with chicken, steak, mince with veg or Slimming World meal

Visit here if you want to find out more about Slimming World

Ness said of the group: “I love the freedom of the plan and that you can still have treats if you want them. All of the members at the group are amazing and so helpful with different ideas and it’s just an amazing group to be part of.”

She’s now a big fan of pasta and noodles and only snacks on fruit with a homemade chocolate pudding.