FEATURES...FEATURES...FEATURES...FEATURES...FEATURES...

HAVING SIX CHILDREN AND LOSING 5ST ON A DIET LEFT KAREN WARNE WITH A FLABBY BELLY. AS HER 40TH BIRTHDAY APPROACHED, SHE DECIDED IT WAS TIME FOR ACTION…

I'd hoped that losing 5st would give me back a figure I could be proud of, but the pitted skin looked awful.

I'd talked to my doctor about having a tummy tuck, but I was told I would have to keep the extra weight off for two more years before I could have surgery on the NHS.

I couldn't bear to look at my saggy midriff for another day, let alone two years.

But there was no way I could afford to have the procedure done privately.

My weight problems began during the years I'd had my six children – Danielle,15, Jacob, 12, Bethany, 10, Caleb, nine, Ethan, five, and Noah, three.

I'd gone from a size 10 to 20, weighed 17st and looked a lot older than my 39 years. I knew I had to take drastic action.

So last July, as my 40th birthday loomed, I signed up for the LighterLife diet and lost nearly 5st in 14 weeks.

I was back to a size 12 and, as I'm 5ft 8in, I began to look myself again.

I threw away my shapeless tent dresses and bought a pair of jeans, which felt great, but the problem was that underneath my new clothes my stomach looked worse than ever.

My skin had been stretched so much it could never ping back into place.

My husband Carl, 38, had always reassured me that he loved me whatever size and shape I was, but he knew how unhappy I felt.

He'd read about how cosmetic surgery was often cheaper abroad than in the UK, so he did some research online and found a clinic in Belgium where I could have the operation for half the price it was in the UK.

On December 13 last year, I flew to Belgium for a tummy tuck and liposuction on my stomach and hips.

We paid for the surgery on our credit card – it cost £4,300 in total.

They removed 11lb of excess skin in total. It took a while for me to recover, but when the bandages finally came off, I couldn't believe how flat my stomach looked.

I had my shape back and the stretch marks had gone.

Carl was impressed, too. He told me I looked amazing, which made me feel good.

Now, two months later, I'm still waiting for some of the swelling to go down, but in less than a year I've transformed myself from a miserable and fat size 20 to a sexy size 12, with a flat tummy.

My confidence has had a huge boost. I wouldn't have missed out on having my children, but my baby-making years are behind me now and I feel it's time to enjoy my body again.

WOULD YOU RUN UP A £4,500 CREDIT CARD BILL FOR A FLAT STOMACH? HAVE YOUR SAY HERE.

Credits

Photography: Sylvaine Poitau
For more information, visit www.lfit.co.uk or call 01708 526805