Through THICK & THIN

Kelly Barker gained something special on her journey to losing weight

- RACHEL TOMPKINS, ANN CUSACK

When primary school teacher Kelly Barker began one of the most transformative journeys she'd ever experienced, she knew it would be difficult. She had been overweight for as long as she could remember, putting her health at risk in the process, and was finally ready for a new lease of life. Along the way, Kelly made a new friend who would prove to be one of her greatest supporters.

Throughout her childhood, Kelly, now 44, was taunted in the school playground. 'They'd call me "Kelly the Elephant". It was mortifying, and it stuck with me - the words and the weight,' remembers Kelly, from Merseyside. 'Over the years, the weight just piled on. I was always trying one diet or another. But I never stuck at anything long enough, and soon was back to eating bags of crisps and all the unhealthy snacks I'd craved.' By the time Kelly had her son Josh, now 17, in 2007, she was more than 24st and a size 28.

'By then, I'd accepted it was just the way I was. Of course, I wanted to look and feel different, but nothing seemed to work,' she says.

The unhealthy eating habits continued as Kelly juggled motherhood and a teaching job.

'I felt like a fraud teaching my Year 6 pupils about the importance of a healthy balanced diet when my own diet was anything but healthy or balanced!' Kelly admits.

On the way to work, she would stop at the bakery and stock up on sausage rolls and sweet treats, which she would eat throughout the day, and after work, she tucked into takeaway dinners. 'I made sure Josh ate well, cooking dinner for him, but after he'd gone to bed, I'd snack on chocolate and crisps in front of the TV. I didn't exercise either,' Kelly continues.