‘I solely noticed Deliveroo driver when overweight – weight reduction gave my life again’

A ‘morbidly obese’ mum who only ever saw the Deliveroo driver revealed her extreme weight loss transformation.

Chelsea Coakley, 29, from Southampton, has always found herself trapped in a vicious cycle when it comes to gaining weight, losing it and then quickly putting it back on again.

Throughout her 20s, the retail assistant “tried and failed” a long list of diets from Slimming World, Weight Watchers and even just general calorie counting.

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But, nothing seemed to work for Chelsea who would turn to food as an emotional outlet. It wasn’t until after giving birth to her son in the midst of the first Covid lockdown where she lost total control over her weight.

As a new mum stuck indoors abiding by the government’s rules, the only person – other than her son – Chelsea would see was the Deliveroo driver that frequently delivered her takeaways.

Feeling as if her increasing weight was “crushing” her lungs, Chelsea decided that she needed to implement drastic change before it was too late. And in 2023, she did just that.

Now, a year after her gastric sleeve operation in Turkey, the mum is exclusively speaking to Daily Star about how she managed to shed 7st – and get her life back.

Chelsea candidly shared: “I started out at 17st 3.75lb and at 5ft 1 I was morbidly obese.

“It got out of control. Making excuses ‘eating for two’, it was during Covid so I wasn’t able to see anyone. The only person I could see was the Deliveroo driver.

“It got to the point where I’d had enough of going round and round in cycles – I felt I needed something drastic.

“I knew I’d given up with myself and it was either do something about it now or keep eating and eventually maybe develop health problems which, who knows where I could’ve ended up.”

Instead of letting her weight continue to spiral out of control, Chelsea decided to book a gastric sleeve operation – where a large chunk of the stomach is removed – at the Gozde International Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.

The mum paid £3,000 for the surgery and flights, a price she was willing to pay in her desperate attempt to get her life and health back on track.

Just a year on from the procedure, Chelsea has gone from a size 22 and 17st to a dress size 10 and currently weighs 10st 11lbs – which means she’s just crept into her ‘goal’ weight.

“Weight loss surgery has changed my life completely,” the mum gushed. She continued: “I have been lucky, I have no problem with any foods (some people struggle with meats and breads), my recovery was and still is straight forward.

“I definitely know if I hadn’t had the surgery, I would’ve been over 6st heavier instead of losing it.

“I can now play with my son without getting ridiculously out of breath, I can tie my own shoe laces without crushing my lungs when bending over, I no longer worry about where I’m seated in a restaurant (in a booth) and I can go into any shop and pick anything off the rail!”

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Chelsea created an Instagram page to journal her progress and to help others going through their weight loss journeys. She has since racked up over 1,000 followers where she often amazes – and inspires – other women with her transformation.

Despite Chelsea being aware of the risks and what she calls “horror stories” of surgery in Turkey, she said that she did her “research” into procedures and hospitals before booking the operation.

She said: “I know there’s been some horror stories and I know there’s been some lives lost which is absolutely devastating. But some people feel like this is their only option and obviously it is more affordable. I know any surgery is risky wherever you have it, but the hospital I went to was absolutely brilliant.

“Even though there are horror stories there are a lot of happy endings also! That’s why I’ve decided to share my story, more and more people are heading off to not just Turkey, but lots of other places aboard for procedures.”

You can find Chelsea’s weight loss journal here.