Stacie Hird has been using a prescribed Wegovy jab and the fat has dropped off her over the course of the last year.
A woman has lost a whopping 10 stone of weight – while still scoffing her favourite McDonald’s treats. Stacie Hird has been using a prescribed Wegovy jab and the fat has dropped off her over the course of the last year.
The 41-year-old began gaining weight after having her first child, now 16, when she was 24 years old and says the weight continued to pile on through her years of motherhood.
The mother-of-two said it particularly got bad during the Covid lockdowns when she found herself doing less, and eating more, scoffing crisps and chocolate, as well as takeaways while locked in the house. At her heaviest she was a size 22 and weighed 18st 10lb.
But that all changed when she tried weight loss injections.
She said she previously ruled them out because she was under the assumption that she could not afford them privately but then she realised she could get them on the NHS. Due to Stacie’s asthma and anxiety, she was admitted onto the Oviva programme – which provides qualifying patients with up to two years of injections on the NHS.
She has now lost a whopping 10 stone and says she has never felt better and even tied the knot with her now husband John, 44, managing to walk down the aisle in the dress of her dreams.
Stacie, who now weighs 8st 10lb, said: “I got stuck in a rut and I turned a blind eye. I hit a low when I saw 18st 10lb on the scales, and realised I could easily hit 20st if I didn’t change something.
“I came across the NHS Oviva programme. I felt so lucky to be given the opportunity, when other people had to pay for these medications – so I knew I wanted to give it my all.
“I would keep my cravings in check because I didn’t deny myself foods I enjoyed – I’d just have a child’s portion when we got an Indian takeaway, or I’d have a McDonald’s Happy Meal.”
She continued: “My wedding day was the best day of my life, I could never imagine myself getting married at the weight I was before but I got to wear the dress of my dreams and I felt amazing.
“Oviva really has changed my life. I felt amazing wearing the dress I dreamed of, that I previously never had the confidence to wear.
“It was a dream come true.”
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Stacie says she was 14st 7lb and a size 16 but covid made things worse.
She said: “I got to a size 22 and I was just buying clothes because they fit, not because I thought I looked or felt good.
“I got depressed about my weight, I had struggles walking, and my asthma became worse as the weight increased. I used to go to bed Googling ways to lose weight quickly but the crash diets never worked.”
Last March, Stacie started her course of Wegovy and used the programme’s app to log her diet and exercise.
“I feel better physically and also in my mind, I feel much more content.
“The feeling of breathlessness has gone away, I can walk for miles and run around with my son.”