A 22st nursery worker who was left close to tears when a colleague told her she was a ‘really bad role model’ for the children she worked with has shed 10st.
Mother-of-two Alison Pope, 44, of Daventry, Northamptonshire, was mortified by the blunt comments made during a conversation about children’s nutrition and portion sizes, and knew her size 28 figure was now even affecting her work.
The deputy nursery manager managed to lose 10st, which is the equivalent weight of three six-year-old boys, over the course of two years, and now weighs 12 stone though a strict diet of Slimming World meals and a ban on white bread.
Married to Jonathan, 49, who works for a medical equipment manufacturer, Alison said: ‘My colleague told me I was a really bad role model for the children at the nursery. I was suddenly embarrassed for my children and my husband.
Alison Pope (pictured left, before her weight loss), 44, of Northamptonshire, was told by a colleague that she was a ‘bad role model’ due to her 22st weight. The deputy nursery manager then set about losing lose 10 st over the course of two years and now weighs 12 stone
Alison said the comments made by her colleague made her feel ’embarrassed’ for her children and her husband Jonathan (right), 49, who works for a medical equipment manufacturer
‘It made me feel dreadful. I was devastated. I’m an emotional person anyway, but I was so close to tears. I remember having to leave the room and keep my head down.
‘When you hear that from someone on the outside and not in your head, that you are too fat, you realise it must be true. It sent me into a spiral of self-hatred. I felt like I was not worthy of my job and my family.’
Despite her shame, it was still a year before Alison – mother to Izack, 12, and Jack, nine – took action, after hitting 40 and experiencing heart palpitations and repeated chest infections.
She said: ‘I couldn’t walk up the stairs in one go and once I got to the top, I would have to sit down. I felt like I was about 90 not 40.’
The deputy nursery manager (left and right before weight loss) took action after hitting 40 and experiencing heart palpitations and repeated chest infections
The nursery worker (left, before weight loss) said she would consume about 3,000 to 4,000 calories a day. Alison (right, after weight loss) achieved the dramatic weight loss though a strict diet of Slimming World meals and a white bread ban
Stairs were far from the only problem for Alison, who had avoided going to concerts, or any public places with small seats and turnstiles – like arenas and theme parks – for years, for fear of getting stuck in them.
Recalling an embarrassing moment on a family trip to a theme park in Weymouth in 2013, when she became wedged on a water ride with her son, Izack, she said: ‘I just could not get out. It was sheer panic.
‘The look on his and the attendant’s faces put me off ever doing something like that again.
‘It was so traumatising. It really affected my already wobbly self-esteem.
‘In the end I managed to get out on my own. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.’
But it was at 40 that everything changed, when after initially ignoring the GP’s letter offering an MOT to her on her landmark birthday, she relented because she felt constantly below par, and received shocking results.
The mother to Izack (left), 12, and Jack (right), nine, said she now enjoys bike rides and is setting her sights on entering a 2km park run with her son, Jack
Discovering that her body mass index (BMI) – used to gauge a healthy weight – was more than 42, compared to the healthy range of between 18.5 and 24.9 recommended by the NHS, she knew drastic action was needed.
‘I was killing myself,’ she said. ‘The doctors didn’t say it, but they didn’t have to.
‘I wasn’t recovering properly from injuries, like when I slipped over on the ice in the winter and hurt my knee, after which I was limping for about six months. I had repeated chest infections, pain in my chest and started getting heart palpitations.
‘I realised there was a real possibility of me dying and leaving my children without their mummy and my husband, who I met at 16 and have been happily married to for over 20 years, as a widower.
‘Now I’ve lost 10st, it feels really odd. I cannot believe I was carrying the equivalent of a whole extra adult person around with me all the time.’
Alison (left and right before weight loss) discovered that her body mass index (BMI) was more than 42, compared to the healthy range of between 18.5 and 24.9 recommended by the NHS and decided to make a change
The nursery worker (after weight loss), has been happily married to Jonathan for more than 20 years
The mother-of-two said there was a real possibility of her dying and leaving her children and her husband (pictured together with Alison)
Food became an emotional crutch for Alison from an early age, as she always felt she stood out for the wrong reasons – reaching 6ft by the age of 11 and 14 stone by the time she was 14.
She said: ‘I was always picked on at school, especially at secondary school.
‘You become quite good at blocking it out. There were stares and finger pointing, as I was so tall and then big to go with it, too.’
She nearly refused her place at the University of Hertfordshire, where she studied for a degree working with children and families in early years education, because she feared her size meant she would not fit in.
Yet, despite its negative consequences, she used food as her prop whenever she faced difficulties.
‘When I was sad, I would make myself feel better with eight slices of toast and loads of chocolate,’ she said. ‘When I felt bad about myself, the food made me feel better.
Alison (pictured left at her graduation), studied for a degree working with children and families in early years education at the University of Hertfordshire. The nursery worker said her medical MOT at 40 led to a referral by her GP to Slimming World and it was from there that her weight loss journey began
‘I must have been consuming about 3,000 to 4,000 calories a day, compared to the 2,000 recommended for women by health experts.
‘We used to get takeaway pizza, but now I will make pizza from scratch.
‘If we had spaghetti Bolognese before my weight loss, we added extra cheese and garlic bread. Now I make it all from scratch and swap garlic bread for a salad.
‘Crisps are my trigger food, so I’ve got rid of those now, too. I’ll have a chicken salad or a quiche for lunch, with some fruit or a yoghurt.’
Alison also feared that her own toxic relationship with food, as she got older, would rub off on her family.
She said: ‘I describe myself as a feeder. When I have family and friends over, I always want to make sure people are fed properly. For me, food is synonymous with love.’
Her unsettling medical MOT at 40 led to a referral by her GP to Slimming World, which became Alison’s salvation.
Now, four years on, she helps to weigh fellow slimmers, hands out stickers for good progress and inspires other people on a weight loss journey.
‘I was so nervous at my first appointment,’ she said. ‘Making the decision to walk through that door was so daunting.
Upon reaching her target weight of 11st 13lb last year Alison celebrated by buying tickets for her and Jonathan (right) to see Bon Jovi perform in Coventry
‘I am not confident, so as I walked into the room I used my children as a shield. I sat them on my lap. I did not want to be noticed and I did not want people to see me.
‘But everyone was so welcoming and I haven’t looked back since that first time.
‘Finding that support changed my life. There was no judgement, no negativity and now I want to help other people and give back.’
Unrecognisable from the overweight, self-conscious woman she once was, Alison now has a healthy BMI of 23.5, she enjoys bike rides and is setting her sights on entering a 2km park run with her son, Jack, soon.
She continued: ‘My husband has recently taken up kayaking and asked if I wanted to come with him, when he never even bothered asking before because he knew I would always say no.
‘But now I want to go and was not scared of making a fool of myself by getting stuck or falling out of the kayak.
‘I am more present as a mum now, too.
‘Before, my boys missed out on the mother they deserved. I have changed for my children. I was just existing, not really living.
‘They didn’t have the experiences they deserved. I wanted them to have a mum who was up for playing football in the garden and now they have.
‘I wish I had done this 20 years ago.’
Even able to run upstairs wearing heels now, one of Alison’s proudest moments came when she reached her target weight of 11st 13lb last year and celebrated by buying tickets for her and Jonathan to see Bon Jovi perform in Coventry.
‘We stood for five hours straight, which I would never have been able to do before,’ she said.
‘For starters, I probably wouldn’t have got through the turnstile or fitted in the seats.
‘I will always be an emotional eater. The habits you think you have beaten can creep in slowly again, so I still go to my slimming group every week.
‘But now, I am mainly giving back to people who are just starting on their journey, as I am living proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel.’