'I feel fitter, healthier and happier than I ever have'

MUM WHO WAS TEASED AT SCHOOL ‘BOUNCED BACK’ AFTER SURGERY AND HAS NOW LOST NEARLY 10 STONES WITH HELP

- By OSCAR FISHER

FOR as long as she can remember, one South Derbyshire mum has struggled with her weight - so much so that her friends teased her at school, calling her ‘Gail the Whale’.

Gail Potts, from Melbourne, had tried every diet and slimming club going, but no matter what she did she couldn’t lose the pounds.

The 54-year-old’s weight would go up and down, and she found herself in a cycle of comfort eating and feeling low.

At her heaviest, Gail weighed 19 stone and wore a dress size 26 - but most importantly, her health was suffering and she knew something had to change.

Gail’s relationship with food was shaped by years of low self-esteem, made worse by the cruel teasing at school.

“I was often called Gail the Whale’, she recalls.

“Those words really hurt and stayed with me for years, making me feel ashamed of my body and turning to food for comfort.”