Leanne Kendellen: How clinically obese lady lost 69kg for 30th birthday

Looking to lose some weight? I guess the story of 30-year-old Leanne Kendellen will inspire you to take that leap and stick to strict dieting, exercising and the required lifestyle to enable you to get the perfect body shape of your dream.

In this article, Glam Squad Magazine will share with you how Kendellen, a determined lady from Dublin, dropped from 137.4kg to a healthy 66.6kg, and shrunk from a size 28 to a size 10, after totally changing her diet and undergoing gastric bypass surgery.

According to reports, Kendellen has been clinically obese since she was six years old and to gift herself the perfect birthday wish for her 30th, she lost 69.8kg in time to celebrate the big ‘3’.

“I knew I didn’t want to enter another decade hating my body,” she explains. I wanted to turn my life around and feel confident in time for turning 30.

“I felt disgusting and I hated myself. I couldn’t bear to look at myself in the mirror.”

Kendellen had been on the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) – the Republic of Ireland’s public health care system – the waiting list for weight reduction surgery since 2015, but she realized she needed to take action while she waited.

“In January last year, I tried to diet to try and shift some of the weight,” she explains.

After losing around 28.1kg within the first few months, Kendellen discovered that she was going to be able to have a gastric bypass in July, just in time for her 30th birthday in December that year.

“I was so happy that I was going to be able to make such a difference to my body and I wasn’t going to be spending my 30s being overweight like I had my whole life,” she says.

“Since undergoing my gastric bypass I have lost 70.7kg and I feel great.

“I haven’t been this small since I was aged eight, it’s incredible,” she enthused.

She says that her children couldn’t sit on her knee, they would be sitting on her belly, and she would get out of breath when she changed their nappies.

“Everything was hard for me when I was big. It hurt to walk, especially pushing a buggy while carrying over 133kg as well. It was awful.

“I didn’t want to be known as the fat mum when the kids went to school and I didn’t want them to be ashamed of me. It was a horrible way of life

“I was embarrassed and thought that everyone was staring at me. It made me not want to leave the house most days and I avoided going to any family events because I didn’t want people to see me,” she says.

Of her old lifestyle, Kendellen describes constantly overeating and spend each day sitting on the sofa, only moving to eat and go to the bathroom.

“We would eat takeaways at least three times a week and my portion sizes were huge. I would make sandwiches with four slices of bread and I would snack on chocolate bars,” she recalls.

But after having the weight loss surgery, Kendellen focussed on her protein intake, making sure her meals and snacks are based around protein.

“After having my surgery, I had to focus on my protein intake; so I now make sure my meals and snacks are based on protein.

“I was so determined to start losing weight, but I am not sure how far I would have got without having the gastric bypass.

“In all honesty, I never expected I would lose this much weight.”

Kendellen is now able to run after her kids, play on the swings and even go to the beach without feeling ashamed of her size.

“I’m free from everything that used to hold me back,” she explains. “I don’t worry about what people will think of me now and I am more confident than I have ever been.

“Even in the sweltering heat I would have covered myself up in long sleeves and trousers, and this year I have been wearing shorts, vests and skirts for the first time since being a child.

“Sometimes my kids don’t even recognise me when we look back at old pictures.”

After spending the majority of her life hating the way she looks, Kendellen is now grateful to feel happy and healthy.

“I can enjoy my 30s with my kids and know that there isn’t anything that I am not going to be able to do.”

Leanne Kendellen shares her ‘before’ and ‘after’ dietary habits:

Before diet:

Breakfast: Three servings of fruit and fibre cereal

Lunch: Tuna and cheese toastie using four slices of bread

Dinner: Chinese takeaway

Snacks: Nature valley bars, Doritos, peanut M&Ms and Kinder Bueno chocolate bar

After diet:

Breakfast: Egg and bacon medallions

Lunch: Crackers with a Babybel

Dinner: Chicken and vegetables

Snacks: Protein shakes, yoghurts, protein bars, popcorn

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