I stopped breathing 45 TIMES every night as my own fat CHOKED me – people whispered behind my back, now I’ve lost 16st

WHEN Sarah Culver stopped breathing 45 times a night, she knew she had to take drastic action.

Her 27st bulk was potentially life threatening and she knew that she needed to be around for sons Finley, 11, and Bailey, six.

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So she has managed to lose a staggering 16st - and now weighs a much slimmer 11st.

Sarah has also become a personal trainer and has completed a Born Survival assault course in Cheshire.

She said: "It’s a far cry from how I used to be.

"I’d struggle for breath even going up and down stairs, let alone climbing a scramble net on an obstacle course.

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"I couldn’t even have dreamed of doing that before.

"I feel like a different person, I feel so much healthier, and best of all, I don’t suddenly stop breathing in the middle of the night."

Sarah, 40, who lives with husband Mark, 52, who works for the Department of Work and Pensions in their universal credit department in Morecambe, Lancashire, first started piling on the pounds after she lost her brother in a car crash in January 2013.

"It was such an emotional time trying to deal with our loss, my brother was only 25," she said.

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"And then 10 days later I gave birth to our first son.

"Finley was born with oesophageal problems so he needed surgery the day he was born, which was so stressful. 

"I put myself on the back burner, and the weight just piled on.

"By the time I gave birth to Bailey in May 2018 I realised just how massive I’d become.

"People were always whispering behind my back when I went out about how large I was. 

"And one day, I was going upstairs to get some stuff down for the children and I felt like I couldn’t breathe, I was panting so hard.

"I realised that my weight had just become ridiculous.

"When I got on the scales and saw I was 27st; I was horrified that I’d let myself get that big."

When I made pasta for my lunch, it would be enough to feed 5,000 people

Sarah Culver

Sarah was also diagnosed with sleep apnoea - a sleep disorder that causes breathing to repeatedly stop during sleep.

It happens when the upper airway muscles relax and block the airway, which can cause breathing to stop for 10 seconds or more at a time. 

In obese people, fat deposits in the upper respiratory tract narrow the airway, making overweight people more prone to developing the condition.

Sarah said: "It was really frightening for Mark, as he would be lying next to me in bed at night and suddenly I would stop breathing, and he would try and wake me up.

"I was stopping breathing between 30 and 45 times every night, and I’d be so tired all the following day.

"I knew that I had to do something about my weight."

MOMENT OF CHANGE

In January 2022, Sarah joined a gym and managed to lose 3st.

She then had a gastric bypass in Lithuania five months later. 

"The operation went really well and I was home in the UK within seven days of the operation," Sarah said.

She had to totally change her diet after the procedure.

Before, she would skip breakfast, then have pasta for lunch and a large dinner.

"I would always cook from scratch, there was just too much of it," Sarah said.

"If I cooked a roast dinner, my plate would be piled high with veg and potatoes.

"And when I made pasta for lunch, it would be enough to feed 5,000 people, not just me."

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After the gastric bypass, Sarah could only eat tiny portion sizes, and the weight started to drop off her.

In April this year, she hit her target weight of 11st 3lb, and now has to have food supplement shakes to make sure she doesn’t lose any more weight.

She said: "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would lose 16st, and I feel amazing.

"I always hid behind my weight, and people would say I had a wonderful personality, but I was unhappy behind all that."

Sarah now runs her own personal training business called Imagine Believe Achieve, and also took part in the 10k Born Survival Challenge in Cheshire in April.

She said: "People thought I would never succeed because of how large I was, so I feel like I’ve achieved so much now.

"I love personal training, and helping motivate others. 

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"My family is so proud of me too. I’m able to go on bike rides with my sons now, and I can do so much more with them.

"Bailey jokes to me that he wishes I was still fat as I can catch him now when we are playing games. But they are all so proud of me."

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