When Kirsty Monk, 32, saw photos from her friend’s wedding, she vowed she’d change
Looking at the pictures of my best friend Kate’s wedding, I smiled. It had been such a lovely day, full of joy and laughter. But as I searched for the group shots my stomach sank. I hadn’t recognised myself at first, but realised the woman staring back at me – grossly overweight – was me, Kirsty. Flanked by the gorgeous bride and Sarah, the other svelte bridesmaid, I was simply massive, a blob.
‘How did that happen, what have I done to myself?’ I sobbed on my husband Marcus’ shoulder. Somehow, I’d let myself balloon up to almost 19st, and for Kate’s special day I’d had to place a special online order for a size-28 dress because we couldn’t find anything in a shop that would fit.
LOSING CONTROL
I called Kate straight away in tears, apologising for ruining her wedding. Of course, she told me not to be silly, but those photos were the catalyst I needed to finally change.
I’d always battled with my weight growing up, but it was when I had the freedom of college and university that I really lost control. Studying midwifery in Bristol, there was that terrible combination of eating a rubbish diet of takeaways along with long weekend and all-night shifts, leaving me exhausted and reaching for more comfort food.
Everything was about convenience and survival, never thinking about how enormous I was getting.
I’d met Marcus when I was 17 and weighed about the same in stones. Marcus loved me whatever size I was, which really meant that I didn’t feel I had to worry about my weight. Marcus was my rock, and the moment he popped the question, I was thrilled – but then I panicked about looking massive in my dress!
Weighing 16st 7lb, I went on a diet and dropped 3st – rushing to get fitted for a dress in the spring before our wedding in the summer of 2015. Then I let my hard work go to waste, piling it all back on before our big day! It was mortifying – the wedding dress wouldn’t fit over my hips and I had to get a special panel sewn in the back so I could get it on. We still had a lovely day, but the photos were far removed from my dream wedding!
I managed to get down to 14st 7lb before we got pregnant with our first son Jaxon, who was born in January 2018, a whopping 9lb 5oz baby. While I didn’t put much weight on during the pregnancy, the exhaustion of having a newborn baby who refused to sleep
