A MUM whose crippling weight left her unable to change her own baby’s nappy has been left unrecognisable after her eight stone weight loss.

Nikki Bailey, 37, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, was left in agony every time she attempted to change her son Bjorn due to the arthritis in her hips exacerbated by her 21-stone bulk.

In fact, the combination of inflammation in her joints and her size made every day a struggle.

But after the crippling pain reduced her to tears Nikki made the decision to change her life to good and is now a svelte size 12.

The mum-of-two admits that her weight struggles began at a very young age.

“I’d always been big,” Nikki says in this exclusive interview.

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“When my mum and dad got married I was wearing a dress made for a four-year-old at just 18 months old.

“By the time I was nine I was constantly being picked on because of my size, but it never made me feel uncomfortable, I just accepted I was big – it was all I knew.

“I continued to gain weight as I got older and when I was 16 I bought a dress from Evans that was a size 34.

“It was only a year on, aged 17, that I saw some photos of myself at a gig and realised just how big I was.”

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Seeing the photo triggered a 10-year cycle of yoyo dieting for Nikki who would lose the weight only to pile it back on again.

“You name a diet, I tried it,” she says.

“At one point, I dropped 10st in a single year by going to the gym every day — and only allowing myself to eat the number of calories the cardio machines said I’d burnt off.

“But it wasn’t healthy and my mum commented on how worried she was about me.

“Of course, starving myself wasn’t sustainable long term, and I’d soon put everything I’d lost back on — and then some.”

In time Nikki met her partner Mick on Tinder who ‘didn’t bat an eyelid’ about her weight.

It was around the same time that Nikki got injured at her job at a special needs school, and an MRI scan revealed the arthritis in her hips.

Sadly her condition made staying active increasingly difficult and by the time her son Bjorn was born five years later, Nikki was a dress size 22-24 and had ballooned to 20 stone.

She recalls: “I’d gained even more in the weeks after his birth and, two months on, I was at rock bottom.”

Even sitting on the sofa was hard because my hips hurt when I sat down

Nikki admits that it wasn’t just getting on her hands and knees to change Bjorn’s nappies that left her in pain, she found even the simply act of walking difficult.

“Getting in and out of the car was difficult and just standing up often left me in agony,” she says.

“Even sitting on the sofa was hard because my hips hurt when I sat down.

“Before, Mick and I had enjoyed going camping or heading to gigs, but that was feeling increasingly impossible.

“It was then that I decided something had to change.

“I was sick of feeling self-conscious about my size when I was out and about.

“I wanted to feel good in clothes and to be able to run around the garden with Bjorn as he grew and I definitely didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in pain.

“I had a wonderful partner and two gorgeous children — Bjorn, plus my eldest daughter, Cherry, 12 from a previous relationship.

“My life was brilliant — and I wanted to enjoy it.”

Nikki decided to go back on a meal replacement plan called Exante, which she’d previously lost a stone on.

Only this time she was determined not to give it up.

The mum reduced her heavy 5000 calorie intake down and swapped greasy meals for shakes and bars to porridge and meal pots and slowly began to see the weight melt away.

But it wasn’t easy.

Nikki says: “I’d always enjoyed large portions and reducing my meal size made me feel constantly hungry. 

“Visiting family at the weekends was tough, too, as eating and drinking was always a factor in our get-togethers.

“But whenever I wavered, I’d remember how much pain I was in and, for the first time in my life, something clicked.

“It helped that I was on maternity leave, so I could really focus on changing my lifestyle.

“On average, I dropped a stone each month and, four stone in, movement started getting easier.”

By the time her youngest was one Nikki had lost 7.5st, weighing in at 12.5st  — healthy for my 5ft 6in height — and a dress size 12-14.

On average, I dropped a stone each month

Happy with her size, Nikki wanted to steer her diet into a healthy direction going forward.

“I swapped my old chocolate bars for protein bars, keeping an emergency one in my handbag,” she says.

“I also kept the fridge stocked with healthier snacks like boiled eggs, meat and fruit.

“I began cooking balanced meals such as marinated chicken, rice and veg from scratch, weighing out my pasta rather than piling my plate high, and padding sauces with loads of veg.

“My old lunches of doorstep cheese sandwiches and crisps became turkey or chicken salads.

“For the first time after losing weight, I was actually keeping it off.”

With the excess weight gone, Nikki made other changes too, swapping her full-on job in social care for a part-time role, giving her more time with Cherry and Bjorn.

“I also returned to hairdressing on the side, having trained in my early 20s,” she says.

“Nowadays, I really am enjoying my life, just as I hoped.

“We go out for walks as a family and I’ve got so much more energy.

“The kids eat more healthily, too, as I know better. I don’t want them to have the same problems I had growing up.

“I used to feel I had to get really dressed up just to look nice.

NIKKI’S DIET OVERHAUL

Nikki’s diet before

Breakfast: Four slices of buttered toast with lashings of peanut butter

Lunch: Leftover takeaway curry or bolognese

Snacks: Cake, crisps, biscuits, bread

Dinner: Takeaway

Nikki’s diet now

Breakfast: Porridge

Lunch: Turkey or chicken salads

Snack: Boiled eggs or fruit

Dinner: Balanced home-cooked meals such as marinated chicken and rice

“I love that now I can go out in leggings and a hoodie and feel confident and comfortable.

“Mick’s noticed how much happier I am, too.

“Sometimes other people who are where I used to be tell me ‘I just can’t do it’.

“I tell them, anyone can achieve anything they want to — but you have to put the work in.

“What I’ve learnt, at last, is that the work never stops.

“It’s not just about changing what you eat. It’s about changing what you think and what you do.

“If you’re reading this and trying to make changes yourself, keep going.

“Remember why you started.

“There are going to be peaks and troughs, and the journey to a healthier size may not be a straight line, but that’s OK.

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“If I can do it, so can you.”

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