21st mother loses half her body weight after fearing she would die from a heart attack in her 30s

An obese mother has lost half her body weight so that she can give the best care to her daughter who was born with a rare genetic condition.

Natasha Kirkby, 40, from Gosport, Hampshire, is a full-time carer to her daughter Hope, now nine, who was born with condition called Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome (KTWS).

She used to binge on a diet of pies, kebab and crisps, rocketing to 21 stone, until she began suffering from chest pains in 2013, and feared she was about to have a heart attack, leaving her daughter without her.

Natasha said: 'I came to realise that in all honestly, I was eating myself to death.

'While my world, Hope, fights every day to stay here and stay alive. I thought "What sort of mother am I to be so selfish?"'

This realisation gave Natasha the the push she needed to finally do something about her weight and she joined her local Slimming World group in September 2015, and has since lost 11 stone. 

Natasha first started to gain weight at primary school, leaving education at 16 as a size 22. 

She gorged on sweets and crisps 'whenever she could' as a child, gaining even more weight after being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at 14.

The teenager, who dreamed of becoming a mother, was devastated by the diagnosis which meant she would struggle to fall pregnant.

She added: 'I was absolutely crushed. My food intake after this devastating blow continued. I was a size 22 when I left school at 16.'   

Weighing 21 stone 2 pounds, and wearing dress sizes between 32 and 34, Natasha ditched greasy fast food for healthy home-cooked meals.

Now she wears size 10-12 clothes and weighs a healthy 10 stone five pounds.

She added: 'Losing this weight has given not only me but my whole family a new life - a better life. 

'I have changed a lot on the outside but the biggest change is on the inside. I am a better person. I am always positive, I'm caring and I am now the best version of me that there will ever be. 

'I am the best mother I will ever be and that means I have succeeded in what I set out to do. 

'I wanted my daughter to know that I would never give up because it was for her I did this.' 

Natasha also revealed that her new lifestyle has changed her on the inside and outside, with many people struggling to recognise her.

She also documented her weight loss journey on Instagram and revealed she loves helping people on their own journeys, having been contracted by many people through social media.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6755723/Gosport-mother-loses-half-body-weight-continue-caring-daughter-genetic-condition.html

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