A woman who previously struggled with sugar addiction and was warned that her weight put her dangerously close to death has described how she dramatically improved her health by losing 280 pounds.
Suzanne Evans was over 430 pounds and had been in a wheelchair for six years, unable to walk more than a few steps due to her size.
Her situation was so dire that medical professionals informed her that her kidneys and liver were failing, and her heart was under immense pressure. They predicted she had only a month to live due to the threat of organ failure.
The 40-year-old knew something had to change – and fast.
‘I was terrified,’ Suzanne, from the UK, recently told NeedToKnow.
‘When you look in the doctor’s eyes and see they’re scared, you know you’re in trouble. It was the worst feeling and I was in the worst place.’
This mother of two had prepared for the worst, recording messages for her sons, who were 10 and 13 at the time, in case she “wasn’t there anymore.”
‘Doctors told me my severe condition was due to my weight, but they didn’t expect me to fight so hard to change my life and lose the excess weight,’ she explained. ‘They believed the damage was irreversible.’
Transformation: At 40, Suzanne Evans drastically changed her life by losing 280 pounds after doctors had initially given her a month to live because of her failing organs.
Before her weight loss she was over 430 pounds and had been in a wheelchair for six years, unable to walk more than a few steps due to her size
‘But I was determined to lose weight and improve my health for [my sons].’
Suzanne’s weight gain first started when her father died unexpectedly in 2008.
‘I comfort ate,’ she recalled. ‘I became addicted to sugar – I would just eat anything sweet.
‘I became wheelchair bound in 2014. I’d eat all day all night. There was always something in my hand.
‘I would have whatever I could get my hands on. I had drawers by my bedside full of sweets and crisps and chocolates.
‘Even if I woke up in the night, I would gorge on them.’
Her health seriously started to decline in 2018, with her being ‘rushed into hospital every other week’ for a year.
‘Every single part of my body radiated pain,’ she recalled. ‘I could hardly breathe or move without excruciating pain.’
The stark warning from doctors proved to be the push Suzanne needed to, once and for all, drop the weight. She’s seen after her weight loss
Suzanne’s weight gain first started when her father died unexpectedly in 2008. She said she ‘comfort ate’ and became ‘addicted’ to sugar
She had tried diets in the past but had always reverted to binge eating.
But the stark warning from doctors proved to be the push Suzanne needed to, once and for all, drop the weight.
She followed the Slimming World plan, which puts an emphasis on whole foods.
Just one week into her weight loss journey, she had dropped roughly 15 pounds, and by the end of her first month she was 35 pounds lighter.
But it wasn’t all easy.
Suzanne said: ‘I had the shakes from the sugar withdrawal.
‘I’d had 11 years of overeating, but I had hope at last. I felt so proud. I really was fighting for my life.’
In addition to overhauling her diet, she started incorporating walking into her daily routine.
‘Just a few steps at first until I could do more,’ she shared. ‘Eventually I was able to take the dog for a walk and it felt great.
Now, Suzanne has lost an incredible 280 pounds and weighs around 150 pounds. She’s seen recently
‘My doctor cried a year later when I walked into [the office]. It was the first time they’d seen me walk in a long time.’
Now, Suzanne has lost an incredible 280 pounds and weighs around 150 pounds.
She is careful to maintain her svelte size, having two healthy meals a day including overnight oats with fruit, and chicken stir fry for dinner.
Suzanne added: ‘People have noticed my weight loss and ask me what I have done to lose so much weight.
‘I tell them it is all down to determination, willpower, and Slimming World. They ask me what else I did and the answer is nothing.
‘I just made the decision to change my life and live. I am so grateful to Slimming World because their food plan saved my life.
‘And I am so proud of myself for making it happen.’
