'˜People think you have cheated, but for me it was the last resort...'
But until recently, the 28-yearold couldn’t even look at herself in a mirror, let alone play a key role at a wedding. Here, she tells how weight loss surgery and losing nine stone has changed her life.
“I’ve been big all my life and would always be yo-yo dieting. I would lose a bit of weight, then put it straight back on. I couldn’t even lose weight for my own wedding in December 2015.
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Hide Ad‘‘I look at my wedding photos now and don’t recognise myself.
‘‘Because of my weight, I was very introverted at school and around the age of 16, I started having anxiety and panic attacks, and didn’t like to go out socialising. I lived on fast food and never really cooked. It is only something I have recently started to enjoy.
“By the time I went to see my GP early in 2016, I was suffering from Tachycardia - when the heart beats faster than normal - and was also on thyroid medication.
‘‘I was wearing size 26 clothes and weighed 18.5 stone. I decided to have the weight loss operation for the sake of my own health. It was a very big thing for me to do because, as well as the panic and anxiety attacks, I also had a phobia of being sick and I worried that the operation would make me feel ill.
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Hide Ad‘‘But it is the best thing I have ever done. If I had known about it before I would have had it done sooner.’’
The operation took place operation on April 18, 2016 at the Spire Gatwick Park Hospital, under the care of Mr Simon Monkhouse, bariatric surgeon.
Sophie added: ‘‘I do feel sometimes that people think you have cheated by having weight loss surgery, but for me it really was the last resort.
‘‘I am a totally different person now to who I was before. I have so much more confidence and I love going out. I have put mirrors into my house – when I was over-weight I didn’t want to look at myself – and I really enjoy shopping for clothes.
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Hide Ad‘‘For some strange reason, the anxiety and panic attacks and sickness phobia have disappeared. And I am no longer on any medication.
‘‘Before the operation, I did not like having my photo taken and used to hate seeing people taking selfies. Now I’ve lost weight I am always doing it – my mobile phone is full of my selfies. And I love the photos of myself at my brother’s wedding. Such a happy day for all of us.”