We were too fat for sex and my weight nearly killed me - here's how we reignited the spark WITHOUT Ozempic

Driving to hospital, Jojo Rogers had tears streaming down her face. In the backmost of her car was her 11-year-old son, Nathan. She was desperately trying to unreal everything was OK – but it was acold from it.

‘I was wholly paralysed down 1 broadside of my body, and terrified I was dying,’ she said. ‘I was lone 36 years old, I was morbidly obese, and abruptly I thought I was going to permission Nathan an orphan.’

At Southampton General Hospital, her worst fears were confirmed. She was told she’d suffered a TIA, a mini-stroke caused by a impermanent blockage successful a cerebral artery that concisely deprives a portion of the encephalon of oxygen. Hospital unit told her she would request a stent enactment into her skull to drain the perchance fatal build-up of fluid that doctors said was caused by her weight.

Jojo, present 49, was diagnosed with intracranial hypertension aft her doc initially brushed her to 1 side, saying her crushing headaches were simply migraines. When her eyesight deteriorated rapidly (as accrued unit connected the encephalon tin pb to a swelling of the optic nerve), she was forced to spell to an optician. Only past did she find retired the existent origin of her symptoms.

‘At hospital, doctors told maine I had the worst lawsuit of intracranial hypertension they’d ever seen, and I was fortunate not to person wholly mislaid my eyesight and died,’ she said.

‘The huffy happening was I was bluntly told my value was virtually sidesplitting me, adjacent the receptionists told maine I was to blame, but I inactive didn’t bash thing astir it – I conscionable felt trapped successful this immense body, wracked with guilt and not knowing however to change.’

At the clip she weighed much than 16st. It had been lone 2 years since she joined Shaun, an technologist she met done online dating. Having fled a troubled narration with Nathan’s begetter erstwhile she was successful her aboriginal 20s, it took Jojo respective years to summon up the courageousness to look for a caller man.

She said: ‘My assurance was stone bottom, and I fundamentally comfortableness ate myself into a hole.

‘I’d provender Nathan healthy, nutritious food, but I’d ever decorativeness disconnected his leftovers and past bid myself a takeaway. I conscionable felt truthful alone, and the worse I felt, the much I ate.’

Jojo went online to find a day and met a fig of men who, erstwhile they saw her successful the flesh, ‘ran a mile’.

‘We ever got on large chatting online, but the infinitesimal they saw maine I could spot their faces drop,' she said. 'One feline adjacent told maine helium couldn’t day maine due to the fact that helium didn’t similar my body!’

Jojo decided to look for ‘chunkier’ men towards the extremity of 2007, and met Shaun. They rapidly deed it disconnected and by January 2018 the brace had moved successful together. On February 29, conscionable 5 months aft they met, Jojo projected to Shaun connected the radio.

She contacted her section station, Power FM, and enactment successful the request. Thrilled erstwhile it gave her the go-ahead, she told the unsuspecting Shaun to perceive and asked him to wed her unrecorded connected air. He, of course, said yes.

‘The occupation was that beingness was conscionable excessively good,’ she said. ‘Shaun was a large navigator and our favourite nighttime was connected the sofa with a takeaway and a film. We some dilatory expanded, but I told myself it didn’t substance due to the fact that we were happy.’

The mates yet tied the knot successful August 2009 – aft some losing mislaid astir 3st for their large day. But Jojo admits that erstwhile existent beingness resumed, they went backmost to their atrocious habits. Very quickly, each that value came backmost on, with interest.

‘We went connected our honeymoon to the Maldives, and some declared triumphantly that we’d had it with dieting, filling up connected the all-you-can-eat buffets,’ Jojo said. ‘I conscionable didn’t spot this causing immoderate wellness problems, and due to the fact that we were some big, it didn’t look to matter.’

But, looking back, Jojo says it was ‘obvious we weren’t arsenic blessed arsenic we made out’.

‘When you’re some big, you fool yourself into reasoning it’s bully conscionable cuddling connected the sofa and eating greasy takeaways, but that spark and vigor you had erstwhile you met is gone.

‘We were some truthful large we couldn’t enactment our arms astir each other, truthful our emotion beingness was predictably severely lacking. Add successful that we’d burdened ourselves with implicit £20,000 of indebtedness connected recognition cards aft our fancy wedding and honeymoon, combined with loads of costly takeaways, and it’s nary astonishment that we broke up briefly.

‘If I wasn’t blessed successful myself, however could idiosyncratic other emotion me? But Shaun came back, and we carried connected trying.’

Having been a dependable 9st 10lbs successful her teens, Jojo’s value was present retired of power – adjacent aft that mini-stroke and repeated warnings from doctors.

‘I was a size 26, and truthful large I erstwhile couldn’t crook astir successful the ablution erstwhile we visited my parents – it was horrific, and determination was nary mode I could unreal this was OK immoderate more,’ she said.

Finally, having tried and failed a scope of diets, Jojo was told astatine a 2018 infirmary assignment that she was being enactment guardant for a gastric band. The process involves an adjustable silicone ringing being placed astir the precocious portion of the stomach. This makes it smaller and limits the magnitude the idiosyncratic tin eat. 

‘I was genuinely excited that I could yet flight this prison, that this would beryllium the answer,’ Jojo said.

The pursuing twelvemonth she had the operation, paid for by the NHS but done astatine a backstage clinic.

Jojo mislaid astir 2st. But past the session mislaid its NHS declaration and Jojo's ongoing enactment vanished with it. So the value came backmost on.

‘I realised determination tin beryllium nary magic bullet, you person to bash things the hard way,' she said.

‘Approaching my 50th birthday, and with an astir non-existent enactment beingness and nary imaginable benefits from my weight, past twelvemonth I decided to effort the 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan [CWP], the aforesaid 1 we’d utilized earlier our wedding. I told Shaun helium could articulation maine if helium wanted, and consecutive distant helium said helium would.’

The mates started the £62-a-week repast replacement fare connected May 31 past year. Jojo swapped junk nutrient and takeaways for 4 nutritious, balanced repast packs, each containing conscionable 200 calories. Shaun had 3 repast replacement packs on with a 200-calorie meal.

‘I person to admit I recovered it truly easy, and arsenic soon arsenic the value started coming off, it felt similar a caller dawn,’ Jojo said.

Once an avid badminton player, Shaun had had to springiness up the athletics due to the fact that of genu pain  caused by his weight. But that summertime helium picked up his racket again – joined by Jojo. By that November, Shaun had mislaid 3st, and by Christmas Jojo had mislaid six.

Now 7.5st lighter, Jojo says she feels ‘reborn’.

‘Shaun and I are a formidable badminton pair, and we’ve adjacent started line-dancing unneurotic present – truthful galore radical don’t recognise maine astatine all, and I hardly recognise myself.

‘We’re some slimmer than erstwhile we archetypal met, and I person to accidental it’s wholly reignited our marriage.

‘We genuinely fancy each different now, we tin enactment our arms astir each other, and we can’t our hands disconnected each other. Our enactment beingness has improved immeasurably, it’s similar we’re having a 2nd accidental astatine our relationship, and I couldn’t beryllium happier.’

DIET BEFORE

Breakfast: Cereal and toast

Mid-morning: Cake

Lunch: Pie and chips, past jam roly-poly pudding and custard

Afternoon: Crisps and cocoa from the enactment vending machine

Before dinner: Large container of crisps portion choosing our takeaway

Dinner: Indian oregon Chinese takeaway, with other sides and 2 mains each

DIET NOW

Breakfast: One Weetabix with blueberries and achromatic coffee

Lunch: CWP soup

Evening: Steamed food with veg, oregon CWP brackish and capsicum chicken

Cup of tea