A BRIDE-to-be who was "thrown out" of a wedding shop for being too big lost a stunning 10st - and wants to renew her vows in a new dress.
Iona Thomas couldn't wait to pick out the perfect frock when she began planning her 2018 wedding.
At 23st, she was heavier than she wanted to be for her big day, but she was still excited to go shopping.
However, when she walked into one store, the assistants took one look at her and told her sharply that they didn’t have anything in her size.
"I was so embarrassed," recalls Iona, 30, who lives in Ipswich, Suffolk, with husband Rob, 30, a web designer.
"I was basically being thrown out of the shop just because of my size."
Luckily, Iona was able to buy another wedding dress from somewhere else and went on to marry Rob.
Four years later, the mum has lost an amazing 10st 7lb.
Looking and feeling fantastic, she now wants to don a new dress.
"I’d love to renew our wedding vows next year and wear a new wedding dress," said Iona, who has two sons, aged six and two.
"I feel so much healthier now and I’m concentrating on bringing up my children to live a healthy lifestyle."
The mum can't help noticing how differently people treat her now that she's slimmed down to 11st.
"I’m treated so much better now - people will hold the door open for me, smile and strike up a conversation," she said.
"But it shouldn’t be like that. You shouldn’t be treated differently because of your size."
Iona, a business administrator, had an unhealthy relationship with food growing up, and suffered from a binge eating disorder.
She said: "As a teenager I would sneak multi packs of crisps and snacks up into my bedroom so other people couldn’t get their hands on them.
"I spent my whole life just hiding food and then binge eating.
"It spiralled out of control as I got older, and the weight just kept piling on."
Iona met husband Rob in 2013 when they worked at a local attraction called Adventure Island and they began dating three years later.
"I carried on binge eating. In the evening we’d share a huge bag of crisps and dips, doughnuts and chocolate," she said.
"We used to call it ‘slider’ food because it would just slide down.
"Rob had a much higher metabolic rate than me, and he also wouldn't eat as much of it, so he wouldn’t put the weight on.
"And he would tell me he loved me whatever weight I was, so it didn’t seem to matter."
I was getting to the point where my knees were hurting me, and I had blood clots. So I knew I could have suffered a stroke at any point
Iona Thomas
After the couple's first son was born in 2017, they set a wedding date for 2018, and Iona went looking for a dress.
She said: "It was such a traumatic time when I got shown the door at the wedding dress shop. I was mortified.
"Mum and I went to a different shop, and even though this time they were much more helpful, I was very limited with the dresses I could choose from."
Even though Iona enjoyed her wedding day, she was determined to lose weight afterwards.
So in January last year, she had a gastric bypass operation at a private clinic in London.
She said: "I was getting to the point where my knees were hurting me, and I had blood clots.
"I knew I could have suffered a stroke at any point.
"Our eldest boy was five, and I’d just given birth to our second son, so I said to my husband that I couldn’t go on like this any more.
"I had to do something about my weight. There was no way that I was prepared to risk leaving my boys without a mum.
"It was a wait of up to seven years having the surgery done on the NHS, and I knew I could die waiting, so I decided to have it done privately at a cost of £12,000."
THERE a number of types of weight loss surgery, which makes the stomach smaller so less food is eaten.
The main types of weight loss surgery are gastric bypass, gastric band, gastric balloon and sleeve gastrectomy.
During gastric bypass surgery, your stomach is divided in two using a stomach staple, which creates a small pouch at the top of the stomach.
The new stomach pouch is then attached to the lower part of your small intestine.
After surgery, food passes from your stomach pouch to the lower part of your small intestine.
The operation usually takes around two hours.
You'll normally be able to go home a few days after surgery and recovery can take four to six weeks.
It's advised you institute lifestyle and diet changes and have regular check-ups after surgery.
Weight loss surgery is offered on the NHS to people with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more who tried to lose weight through a healthy diet, exercise and medicine.
You can also choose to have the surgery privately.
Source:
Iona underwent the operation, and now weighs 11st 3lb.
She said: "I feel like a different person now.
"My eldest son looked at a photo of me the other day with Rob and said, ‘Mummy, who is that with daddy?’
"He couldn’t even recognise me when I was bigger.
"And when Rob and I do renew our wedding vows, I know I will find it a lot easier to find a wedding dress this time around."
Losing weight should be a long-term commitment to healthier living, rather than any drastic measures.
The NHS tips - which can be adopted slowly - include:
Read about:
