Weight loss: Mum sheds nine stone after lying about being pregnant because she was obese
“HOW long have you got to go?” was a question Samantha Di Maiolo was used to answering.
“Not long now,” she would usually reply.
Weighing 21st and wearing a size 28, Samantha often lied about having a bun in the oven. But after being confronted with the truth about her weight, Samantha lost an amazing nine stone.
She says: “I no longer waddle around like I’m nine months gone. And I no longer dread strangers making conversation with me because they don’t ask about my ‘baby’.
“It has changed my life to not look pregnant for the first time in 15 years.”
Samantha, 33, from Southampton, struggled with her weight throughout her teens and was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries in 2003.
She says: “The older I got, the more I ate. I worked in an office and my desk was near the vending machine. I’d visit it three times a day. And somebody was always bringing in cakes or doughnuts.”
After meeting her future husband Alex, 37, a workshop manager, her eating got worse.
Alex had an accident at work and while Samantha cared for him at home, she would snack all day.
She says: “It was a non-stop buffet of crisps and sweets between meals. I tried diets all the time but having polycystic ovaries made it even harder for me to lose weight.”
Carrying most of the excess weight around her tummy meant people often assumed Samantha was pregnant.
The bigger she got, the more often it happened.
I was mortified and too embarrassed to tell her I was just fat
Samantha says: “A supermarket cashier asked me, ‘How long have you got left to go?’
“She was pointing at my tummy. I was mortified and too embarrassed to tell her I was just fat. I mumbled about it not being long now and made a hasty retreat.”
Dreading conversations with strangers, Samantha became more withdrawn.
After getting married in a size-28 dress, she began trying for a baby with Alex but her size and medical issues stacked the odds against them.
For five years they tried — and Samantha was elated when they finally got lucky
She says: “It was a relief to no longer have to lie and pretend I was pregnant. For the first time, I didn’t flinch when strangers mentioned my bump.”
The pregnancy was deemed “high risk” due to her weight.
Samantha developed gestational diabetes and needed close monitoring.
After Marco, now six, was born healthy, Samantha swore she would slim down.
But as a new mum, she struggled to focus on healthy eating. With the added baby weight, her tummy was even more pronounced and Samantha again felt self-conscious.
Two years later, she was pregnant again — giving her more excuses for her weight. But after Leo, now four, was born, life as an obese mother of two was hard.
She says: “I struggled to fit behind the wheel of the car and going to the park was impossible. Even taking them for food was hard because I couldn’t fit into chairs.
“It was at a family party when my mindset changed.
“A family friend came up to me and congratulated me on my third pregnancy.
'IT WAS SO EMBARRASSING'
“She said: ‘Wow, I didn’t know you were pregnant again, Sam!’ I couldn’t lie, as everyone else in the room knew the truth. I had to tell her I wasn’t pregnant, just big.
“We were both mortified. It was so embarrassing.”
The shame was still fresh when she spotted a post on Facebook about a local woman who had got into shape using the Cambridge Weight Plan.
Knowing she had to change something, Samantha signed up for the plan and within a week she had swapped her usual treats for soups and bars.
'THE MUM THEY DESERVE'
To her astonishment, the plan worked. Over the course of a year, she lost nine stone, shifting her “food baby” tummy for good. Now weighing a healthier 12st, she says: “At the beginning, I found the plan easy. It was new and fresh.
“I kept thinking about my health — that if I didn’t make the change, I wouldn’t be around for my boys.
“I found going out and socialising hard but my friends and family were very supportive. I knew I had to change my habits.”
Losing the weight has changed her life. Now Samantha is a weight-loss consultant helping others get healthy.
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
She says: “It’s such a relief not to dread conversations and lie to save embarrassment. Now people say I inspire them.
“And looking after my children is so much easier. They love a cuddle, as they can get their arms around me.
“Waddling round after them like I was about to give birth was exhausting. Now I can be the mum they deserve.”
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