Mum who called herself ‘fat and ugly’ every day drops from size 18 to 8 and competes in England kettlebell competitions

A mum who called herself “fat and ugly” every day after “piling on the pounds” as a pandemic nurse has dropped 10 dress sizes and now competes in weightlifting kettlebell competitions for England.

Vicky Edwards, 43, from Darlington, County Durham, who stands at 5ft 2in (157cm), reached 12st 13lbs (82.1kg) in 2021 after comfort eating while working as a nurse during the Covid pandemic, surrounded by critically-ill patients.

At the time, she was eating up to 6,000 calories a day and had an obese body mass index (BMI), frequently snacked on chocolate and biscuits, and began avoiding social situations, feeling she was not setting a “good example for patients”.

She decided to make a change after noticing her eldest son Daniel, now 19, had adopted her negative self-talk, commenting on how he was “chubbier” than his brother Callum, now 17.

In October 2021, she joined Slimming World, focused on eating more whole foods and later joined the gym, steadily losing weight until she reached 8st 2lbs (51.7kg) with a healthy BMI in 2025.

Now a managing director of her own healthcare consultancy business, and a member of the England kettlebell team, Vicky can lift her body weight above her head and says she feels stronger, more confident and happier in her own skin.

Vicky told PA Real Life: “It’s like having imposter syndrome – I keep going out and buying the wrong sizes.

“I couldn’t really get my head around how I’d fit into a size eight when I was a size 18 for all those years.

“It wasn’t until I took my measurements and realised my waist is now smaller than what my thigh used to be when I first started.”

Before the pandemic, Vicky weighed 10st 7lbs (66.7kg) and reached her heaviest weight of 12st 13lbs (82.1kg) in autumn 2021, wearing a size 16 to 18 in clothes, with an obese BMI of 33.1.

At the time, she estimates she was eating between 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day.

She would typically have scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast and snack on fruit, chocolate and cereal bars throughout the morning.

This was followed by a sandwich, crisps and a chocolate bar for lunch, and a spaghetti bolognese for dinner, plus a hot chocolate and biscuits before bed.

She said she “piled on the pounds” while working as a nurse during the pandemic in a hospital “full of people dying of Covid”.

“I started comfort eating and wasn’t able to go to the gym that I would normally have gone to, not that I really particularly enjoyed going,” Vicky explained.

“I just lost that thirst for life – I just wanted to get up, exist, make sure we all stayed alive and then went home again.

“And then once Covid started settling down a little bit, I thought, ‘I’m just getting fatter now, I might as well just keep eating’.

“It wasn’t until I then re-joined the human race and went back to work that people started commenting on how big I’d got – and that’s when I realised that it’s not what I wanted.”

She also began to realise she was not being a “good example for patients” by being at an obese weight.

“You wouldn’t want a dentist with bad teeth, or you wouldn’t want a police officer who breaks the law,” Vicky added.

“So it’s the same with nurses – you should be practising what you preach and, at that point, I just wasn’t doing that.”

Vicky’s weight took a toll on her mental health – she said she would wake up every day, telling herself she was “fat and ugly”, and would feel “self-conscious” and “uncomfortable” in her own skin.

As a result, Vicky avoided social events and put her “life on hold”.

She decided to make a change after hearing her eldest son make comments about his size, which she believed was caused by her negative self-talk.

She said: “He used to say that he’s chubbier than his brother and I just wanted them to have a positive relationship with their bodies, especially as they get older.”

So, in October 2021, she joined her local Slimming World group and found the plan “ridiculously easy” to follow.

According to its website, Slimming World shows members how to cut calories without counting them.

It includes ‘free food’, which it says is healthy, satisfying food you can enjoy in unlimited amounts whenever you are hungry, such as lean meats, fruit and vegetables.

As well as this, members utilise what Slimming World calls “healthy extras”, which are measured amounts of milk and cheese, as well as wholemeal bread, breakfast cereals, nuts, seeds, avocado and oils.

Those following the plan also eat a small amount of foods that are less filling and higher in calories, such as biscuits and sweets, which are known as ‘swips’.

Vicky’s typical day of eating then changed to Weetabix with milk and fruit for breakfast, with more fruit, pickled onions and carrot sticks as snacks.

For lunch, she prepares one meal for the week, such as spaghetti bolognese, bulking it out with vegetables.

Her dinner consists of low-fat burgers or meatballs, followed by a low-calorie hot chocolate or yoghurt.

Vicky said: “I felt like it was cheating and it doesn’t feel restrictive at all.

“In my first week, I lost 10-and-a-half pounds, and I just thought, ‘Wow, I just want to do this all the time’.”

After following the plan for 18 months, and joining the gym in spring 2022, she reached 10 stone (63.5kg).

Now, she weighs 8st 2lbs (51.7kg) and wants to maintain her weight loss while being able to lift weights.

She also joined her husband Paul, 44, a classroom assistant, and their two children, Callum, 17, and Daniel, 19, in doing kettlebell training.

This is an endurance-based weightlifting sport, which involves performing repetitions of overhead lifts with a kettlebell weight.

In 2025, she said she qualified for the England kettlebell team, run by the English Kettlebell Association.

“I have to swing at least 16kg above my head for 12 minutes non-stop and do as many reps as I can,” Vicky explained.

“I can swing my bodyweight above my head and compete against other people, and I do 90 minutes of training three times a week.

“I’ve got to re-qualify for the team in February, because you have to do it each year.”

Despite losing 4st 11lbs (30.4kg) in total and now having a healthy BMI of 20.9, Vicky is still getting used to her new body.

Vicky also no longer avoids socialising – instead, she said she “loves getting dressed up” and “cherishes it”.

Vicky added: “I like making an effort when I go out now because I think I missed out on a lot of that when I was younger, because I didn’t want to do any of those things.”

Looking ahead, Vicky does not want her weight to ever “creep back up” and be over nine stone (57.2kg).

“I’ve worked really hard at my training so that I haven’t got lots of loose skin, and now I want to just keep challenging myself with my fitness,” she explained.

“I think I’d tell other people that it’s not a quick fix – I think anything that you do to lose weight, whether you choose calorie counting, injections, or Slimming World, it’s about consistency.

“It’s what you do for the next six months that’s going to start carving you into a new version of yourself.”

To find out more, visit: www.slimmingworld.co.uk.