The Eurovision Song Contest is taking place on Saturday night and is this year being hosted by the UK.
01.05.2023 - 17:59 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A mum whose obesity forced her to give up hairdressing says she’s got her sparkle back for the first time in years after losing almost eight stone.
Nikki Bailey ballooned to 26 stone at her heaviest and suffered with severe hip arthritis, meaning she couldn’t stand up for long.
The 37-year-old said her mobility was ‘extremely bad’ and found herself fighting back tears of pain at the simplest of tasks like changing her baby’s nappy.
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It was at that point Nikki, who lives with her partner and also has a 12-year-old daughter, decided enough was enough.
She discovered diet and meal replacement brand exante and embarked on a healthy lifestyle journey in April 2022 which has seen her shift 7.7 stone, dropping from a size 22-24 to 12-14.
Now a comfortable 12st 7lbs, Nikki has returned to her passion for creative hair colouring and also works as a part-time teaching assistant in a special educational needs school - a physically demanding job she says it wouldn’t have been possible for her to do before.
Nikki said: “I was bullied from primary school onwards for my weight because it’s always been an issue. I remember always feeling different to everyone else, which really affected my mental health.
“I lost weight several times over the years and basically tried every diet going, they worked for a short time but the minute I stopped it piled back on, until now.
“My weight put my last pregnancy at risk. I was put on blood-thinning injections for the last three months of it and two months after giving birth, because my BMI meant I could have developed blood clots.
“I’ve had arthritis in my hips for years and had really bad flare ups at times,
The Eurovision Song Contest is taking place on Saturday night and is this year being hosted by the UK.
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