A teacher who went on a weight loss journey shed a whopping 252 pounds after she felt like a “hypocrite” for telling her students to live a healthy life.
Fourty-three-year-old Kelly Barker, who lives with her 15-year-old son, Josh, in St Helens, UK, once weighed over 392 pounds.
“I’ve always loved my job as a teacher, yet I often felt like a hypocrite—especially when teaching the children about healthy eating and being active,“ she said. ”My joints and back would be in agony after a day of teaching, and, although I’d plaster a smile onto my face, I just felt like a fraud.”
Reflecting on her childhood, Ms. Barker admits that her weight has been something she’s struggled with her whole life.
“As a child, I was placed on a special diet and had to be weighed at school,“ she said. ”While the other children were eating fish and chips, I would have to eat a separate meal on my own—usually something bland like boiled fish and potatoes.”
However, that only worsened things for her.
“It made me believe that weight loss was miserable, embarrassing, and shameful, and it didn’t work—I gained weight every year into my adulthood,” she said.
Ms. Barker admits that when she was in university, she gained further weight and was left in a vicious cycle of comfort eating that continued for years.
However, she had a major wake-up call that kick-started her weight loss journey when her GP recommended surgery.
“I researched the procedure and knew that my weight made me a huge anesthetic risk,” she said. “I couldn’t shake the feeling that I would die on the operating table.”
She then got in touch with her cousin who works as a Slimming World consultant and decided to join the program.
She was “surrounded by warmth, kindness, and compassion” from the moment she joined the group. Despite the new process being a little scary for her, it was the support she needed.
“I can’t lie, standing on the scales for the first time was daunting—not least because I was terrified I’d be too heavy for them to weigh me (they could, thankfully),“ she said. ”Although that number was frightening—it also felt like the start of something.”
Ms. Barker has been grateful for the support she received from her cousin and the group throughout her journey.
She began to cook and build healthy food habits. Her meals changed drastically from something to nibble on the go like a takeout pastry to preparing overnight oats with fat-free natural yogurt and plenty of fruit for breakfast.
For lunch, she swapped from sandwiches, crisps, and cakes from a bakery to homemade soup, pasta salads, or a crustless quiche.
Instead of opting for a takeaway pizza for dinner, Ms. Barker began to make curry from scratch with rice or a homemade slimming world kebab with chips made in the air fryer.
Her snacks also looked a lot healthier as she moved away from crisps, chocolates, biscuits, cake, and pies. Ms. Barker said she now feels proud to show others the fresh food she’s enjoying, as it has given her more confidence and has even improved her relationship with her son.
“I no longer feel like I embarrass him, and he tells me he is proud of what I have achieved,” she said. “He is a county and regional level swimmer so being more in tune with my own activity levels and nutrition has brought us so much closer together.”
She has also seen her energy levels drastically improve.
“As my journey progressed, I found I had so much more energy—so when Josh suggests fell walking, rock climbing, or kayaking now, I’m excited to get involved rather than worrying I’ll be over the weight limits,” she said.
On a recent trip to the Lake District, she was moved to tears at the beauty of the lake and realized how many experiences and beautiful views she had missed due to her weight issues.
