I've worked with Gemma since February 2023 and BOY has she been on a journey. I have about her whopping weight loss transformation for The Sun, Chat, Woman, Take 5, Bella, That's Life, Metro and Closer!
BIG FAT SHOCK: Mum-of-SIX who kept piling on pounds with every pregnancy lost 16 STONE after warned she could die before 40
Gemma, 37, got bigger and bigger with each of her SIX pregnancies.
She started dieting aged 13 and as the years passed, tried them all without success.
In her 30s, weighing 27st 7lb, doctors told her she was at death’s door and might not make it to the age of 40.
Terrified of dying and leaving her six children and partner Guy behind, she decided to do something drastic.
She had a mini gastric bypass on the NHS in October 2022 and now weighs 11st 7lb, meaning a whopping loss of 16 stone in 15 months.
Now people keep asking Gemma's partner who his new girlfriend is... not realising it’s still her, just a slimmer version!
Gemma was always taller than her friends at school, but as the years passed and she ate larger portions, she became bigger too. At 13, she tried Slimming World – the first of many diets she’d try during her life.
At 17, Gemma moved out of home and in with her partner Guy. She loved to cook heart meals but when she wasn’t cooking, the pair lived on takeaways. And at 19, she fell pregnant with their first child, Crystal.
She craved Ribena and sugary foods, and by the time she gave birth, Gemma was over 20 stone. After that, she ate anything and everything, and when Crystal was six, Gemma and Guy had their second child, Curtis.
Gemma then had four back-to-back pregnancies, and her weight was spiralling out of control. Now a mum of six, she was feeling fat and her self-esteem at an all-time low. She tried everything to lose weight - yo-yo dieting, shakes, fad diets, starving herself. Nothing worked...
‘I was so embarrassed to be big. People stared, laughed and made gestures to me in the street. I wore two pairs of leggings at a time to cover my legs and bum, so I was always hot and sweating. I was way too fat for normal chairs, couldn’t fit on swings or on rides with my kids. I felt like I wasn’t being the mum I wanted to be.’
The mum-of-six from Merseyside had high cholesterol, bad joint pain, asthma – her health conditions were out of control and Gemma was told by a doctor that if she didn’t lose weight, she might not make it to her 40th birthday.
Gemma knew she had to do something. And then something happened to make it really hit home.
She said: ‘After I had our sixth child Carmelo, I lost a friend to cancer. She was just a few years older than me and she left two little ones behind. It broke my heart and really hit me. She had died through no fault of her own, but it was my fault I was overweight. Hear death made me change something, I had to change.’
At 27st 7lbs and wearing a dress size 28, Gemma saw a doctor who referred her for a gastric bypass. On the day of surgery, petrified and shaking, she nearly walked out. Thankfully, she didn’t.
Afterwards, she could barely manage a slice of ham, half a babybel, or sips of milk. But with time, she was able to eat what she cooked for her family of eight, but just much smaller portions.
Now she has lost 16 stone and wears a dress size 10-12. People no longer stare or laugh at her, and she feels truly alive for the first time. S
‘No words express how I feel to be an active and involved mum now. I used to be the ‘bag mum’, who stood with the stuff while my kids ran around or went on rides. Now I’m on the rides with them asking where the next one is.’
Gemma has swapped her massive leggings for pretty dresses, has a job in a school and is training to be a TA.
‘I am enjoying every minute of life with my partner and six kids. I have some loose skin but it’s not too bad. I was hoping to lose 7st, so to lose 16st is just madness. Guy has even had people ask who his new girlfriend is – not realising it’s still me, just less than half the size!’
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