Teenager who weighed 20st loses half her body weight to reverse liver disease

Doctors warned Isabelle Kennedy she might need a gastric bypass if she didn't lose weight

Isabelle Kennedy avoided having a gastric band operation after losing weight by changing her diet (Slimming World )

A teenager who weighed 20stone has revealed how she lost weight and reversed her liver disease.

When Isabelle Kennedy was 15-years-old, doctors warned her that if she didn’t lose weight she may have to undergo invasive surgery to fit a gastric band on her stomach. The secondary school student was also diagnosed liver diseased linked to obesity.

(Slimming World ) (Slimming World)

Now 18, Kennedy from Bexhill-on-Sea has lost 9st 8lbs by tackling her habit of emotional eating. Instead of focusing on weight loss, she worked to develop health eating habits. Since October 2014, she dropped from 20st 11lbs and a size 22 to 24 to 11st 3lbs and a size 10 to 12.

Kennedy has been overweight since the age of four, but gained eight stone in secondary school when she would comfort eat and buy crisps, biscuits, sweets and chocolate on her way home from school. For dinner, she would eat a whole pizza and chips, before tucking into ice cream, left-overs and chocolate.

The teenager now eats poached eggs, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms and baked beans on wholemeal toast for breakfast, and an apple or banana as a mid-morning snack. At lunch, she usually eats a baked potato with tuna and sweetcorn and side salad, followed by a fat-free yogurt and strawberries for a mid-afternoon snack. For dinner, she eats a fajita rice bowl with salad, or BBQ pulled pork and salad. For dessert, she eats an Oreo ice cream sandwich or a chocolate bar.

Kennedy pictured at school, around the time she was diagnosed with liver disease (Slimming World)

“The biggest thing for me to overcome was stopping the emotional eating," she said, adding this meant "finding other ways of coping."

"Now I find going for a long walk with my dog Millie or a run after college is a great way to relax after a stressful day."

“It’s crazy as I used to dread any kind of activity because I’d worry what I looked like and got out of breath, but not anymore," he added.

The teenager recently completed her A-Levels, and said her newfound health has given her extra confidence at college and boosted her attendance. “I honestly feel that without having lost the weight, I wouldn’t have even thought about going to university as I wouldn’t have believed in myself enough. I used to feel self-conscious about talking to people because I thought they’d be secretly judging me for being so big.

“After losing the weight and being discharged from hospital, I feel full of self-confidence and like I’ll be able to meet new friends at university and enter the world of work when the time comes.”

Her weight loss has earned Kennedy the title of Slimming World Young Slimmer of the Year.