A former teacher has revealed how being 22 stone held her back in her career because she was too self-conscious to put herself forward for promotions.
Sarah Jones, 40, of Warrington, Cheshire, weighed 22st 4lb and even considered a gastric bypass, after being humiliated on a holiday flight to Mallorca, when she needed a seat belt extension before take-off.
But, despite her career stagnating and suffering constant jibes and humiliation, Sarah still refused to do anything about her size until she woke up to the impact it was having on her family.
Now 12st 4lb and a slender size 12, she realised she needed to take action when her daughter Olivia was mocked for having a ‘fat mummy’.
Sarah Jones, 40, from Cheshire weighed 22 stone and says it held her back in her career as a teacher as she was so self-conscious, she never pit herself forward for promotions. Pictured: Sarah on holiday
The mother, from Cheshire, dropped 10 stone in weight after her daughter was tormented for having a ‘fat mummy’
Sarahas been married to husband Steven for 13 years, and the couple have two children, Olivia and Grace, together
Sarah, who has been married to Steven, 47, since 2006, and has two daughters, Olivia, 10, and Grace, eight, finally made the decision to change when her size impacted her family life.
‘I remember one day Olivia coming home and being a total wreck,’ she recalled.
‘I asked her what was wrong and she told me that some children had taunted her saying her “mummy was fat”.’
‘I’d spent my life being teased and humiliated because of my weight, and now it was happening to my daughter too.’
‘I knew I had to do something. Enough was enough’, she continued.
The incident in 2016 brought back another shameful memory of a 2015 family holiday to the Spanish island of Mallorca, when she needed a seat belt extension before she could fly.
Sarah has admitted she has been a yo-yo dieter from a young age and always battled with her weight, which took its toll on her self esteem and social life
The reflexologist felt humiliated when she had to ask for a seat belt extension on a flight to Mallorca, as she felt everyone on the plane was judging her for her size
She recalled: ‘It was one of the most mortifying moments of my life.
‘A constant fear of mine would be not being able to fit in a seat, so to have it happen on a plane was beyond embarrassing.
‘The air stewards were so kind about the whole thing, but I knew deep down everybody on that plane was judging me, and who could blame them? I was judging myself.’
A yo-yo dieter since her late teens, Sarah, a former sixth form teacher, had struggled with her weight since the age of seven.
Sarah considers herself to be an emotional eater. She used to be bullied for her size, and would seek comfort by eating more, which only fuelled the nasty comments she received from people even more
An emotional eater, she would constantly comfort or reward herself with treats.
Despite her best efforts to hide her growing girth under baggy clothes, she was constantly taunted, especially at school, because of her weight.
She said: ‘I absolutely loathed being at school. The bigger I got the more I was bullied, and the more I was bullied the more I ate – it was a vicious cycle.’
After leaving secondary school at 16, Sarah started working at a local bingo hall, where she met Steve in 2002, marrying him at St Wilfred’s Church, Warrington, in 2006, by which stage she already weighed 18st 6lbs.
The mother of two felt inhibited by her weight, but as soon as she shed the extra pounds she opted or a career change. Sarah went from working in a bingo hall to being a sixth form teacher, reflexologist and now a managing consultant at Slimming World
‘I loved my wedding dress and was happy to be marrying Steve,’ she said.
‘Steve has never struggled with his weight, and made it clear from our first date that he wasn’t fussed whatever size I was.
‘I loved him for it, but looking back on photos from my wedding, I can’t believe how big I was.’
Not only did Sarah’s weight damage her self-esteem, she feels it held her back professionally and socially.
When the parent was teaching she still felt she was in a school playground, as she noticed people judging her for her weight
She continued: ‘Up until my weight loss last year, I feel like my entire life has been hindered by my weight, from my social life to my career – and everything in between.’
While working weekends at the bingo hall, Sarah was studying psychology at Staffordshire University, before training to become a teacher in 2003.
After qualifying as a sixth form teacher, she was over the moon to be taking classes in Health and Social Care studies, but her weight once again posed a problem.
‘Although I loved my job as a teacher, I couldn’t help but feel that I hadn’t escaped the playground,’ she said.
Sarah didn’t tell her husband how low her self esteem was because of her weight gain until last year after she embarked on her weight loss journey
‘It’s impossible not to be stared at or talked about when you’re 22 stone and I had to accept that.
‘I was so embarrassed and ashamed of my weight that I didn’t put myself forward for promotions and my career didn’t progress.’
Horrified at the prospect of having a gastric bypass, she finally woke-up to how bad things had become and found a new drive to fight the flab the ‘old fashioned way,’ by joining her local Slimming World club.
‘I knew before I stepped through the door, I was going to be the biggest one there, but I didn’t care,’ she explained.
Sarah traded in Cadbury Double Deckers for pitta bread and fresh fruit following the Slimming World diet, and within just one week she lost seven pounds
Recalling her first visit in September 2016, she said: ‘I stepped on the scales and broke down in tears. If I didn’t change then I knew that I never would.’
Trading in her diet of canteen lunches and family packs of Cadbury Double Deckers for pitta bread and salad and fresh fruit, Sarah lost an impressive seven pounds in her first week.
Spurred on by her early success, she shed a whopping eight stone in her first year and by April 2018, two years after starting her journey, she had lost 10 stone exactly.
Weighing a healthier 12st 4lb and wearing a size 12, with a new lease of life Sarah packed in her job as a sixth form teacher and trained with the Gaia School of Natural Health, in Reflexology and Reiki.
In two years Sarah lost 10 stone in weight, and now wears a dress size 12. Following her transformation she became a representative for the weight loss company
Sarah contemplated having a gastric band fitted to help her shed the extra pounds, but decided against it and instead followed a healthy eating plan to help her get in shape
Explaining her career change, she said: ‘After losing all that weight I just knew I wanted to give back to people on a much more personal level.
‘I’d always been intrigued by complementary therapy and I just thought, ‘Why not?!’
As if that was not enough, due to Sarah’s success, this year she became a managing consultant for Slimming World, Cheshire East.
‘I’ve transformed in all senses of the word and I couldn’t be happier, I only recently found out just how much my weight was impacting on those I loved most.
‘I never knew how upset it made my husband not being able to put his arms around me – but now he can!
‘It’s brilliant be able to use my own experience as a successful slimmer to help others out their hoping to lose weight. ‘I’m proof that it’s never too late to turn your life around.’
