A MOTHER-OF-TWO who spent £15,000 on takeaways in three years to feed her addiction to unhealthy food has lost six stone after being bullied.
Natalie Fowkes was told she looked like a man by school bullies who dubbed her "Fat Nat" and "Beach Whale" when she weighed about 18 stone.
After leaving home aged 18 she said her weight gain became worse when she was in charge of her own food budget and would eat about 500 takeaways a year, costing about £5,000.
The 25-year-old from Langley Mill has now transformed her life, looks a different person and has confronted the bullies about the abuse which left her depressed.
She said: "I've always had people call me fat because I was the biggest one in the class. I was called names constantly and, at the time, remember thinking, 'They will all regret it one day'.
"When I was single, I'd go out in Ripley and people would say I looked disgusting and like a man. It was horrible and I'd cry all the time.
"I loved food so much, it was an addiction. People with a drug addiction get all the help in the world but I didn't get that. Food was my comfort. I hated being fat and I used to think, 'Why can't I just be thin?' I was in my 20s and still young."
After full-time mum Natalie had her first child, Maisie, four, she put on four stone and her diet did not improve.
She said: "I was terrible for takeaways and loved chips, crisps and full-fat Coca-Cola. My diet was disgusting and I'd eat anything I could get my hands on."
Natalie found out about Slimming World through a friend. After battling her nerves to go to the first meeting four years ago, the weight started to fall off. She said: "Slimming World has been my life. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like without it."
Her second child, Ollie, was born three months ago. She decided to stay with Slimming World and battle her cravings. The hard work paid off when Ollie was born and Natalie lost 12.5lb five days after his birth. She now weighs 11st 9lb.
She said: "I know how cruel kids can be, so I wanted to help for when they got older. I did not want the kids to say, 'Look at the state of your mum'.
"I have so much more confidence. Four years ago, I never dreamed of showing off my legs."
Natalie's Slimming World group meets each Thursday at 5.30pm and 7.30pm at William Gregg Leisure Centre, Heanor.
NOW AND THEN:BEFORE
BREAKFAST: "I loved to eat three slices of white toast with chocolate spread and drink of a cup of tea. I'd also have a packet of biscuits with it."
LUNCH: "I'd visit McDonald's or Greggs and have a super-sized cob with a full-fat cake."
DINNER: "A crispy chicken would be one of my favourite choices, with a mountain of chips. If not chicken, then it would be a pizza or a kebab."
AFTER
BREAKFAST: "I now have a full English Slimming World breakfast with fruit and a yoghurt."
LUNCH: "I enjoy pasta or a jacket potato, certainly not constant visits to fast food restaurants."
DINNER: "I enjoy a meat dish with vegetables and potatoes now."
