WEIGH TO GO
I was a secret binge eater – my parents had to put alarms in cupboards to stop me eating, but now I’ve shed 11st
Take a look at Crystal’s dramatic diet shift – from junk food binges to clean, balanced meals
CRYSTAL Rudd became a secret binge eater aged eight, leading to her parents putting alarms on kitchen cupboards.
The now 30-year-old used unhealthy food as a comfort after her parents' divorce - and it became an "addiction".
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The now mum-of-three from Fleet, Lincolnshire, recalled: "I'd hide the crisp packets and chocolate wrappers down the side of the sofa."
Aged nine, Crystal needed adult-sized chairs in class when all her peers sat on child-sized ones.
She was also forced to wear secondary school-sized uniforms in primary school, as age-appropriate clothes wouldn't fit.
"It was an addiction," the mum said, "And I became a massive kid."
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As a teen Crystal was bullied for her weight and once again reached for junk food as a comfort.
When her mum discovered her stash of hundreds of packets, she even put an alarm on the pantry.
But determined Crystal still found a way to sneak past it by climbing on a chair.
She said: "The addiction was bad and because I was limited on what I could eat, I craved it more."
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Cruel classmates picked on her for her larger frame as a teen, and eventually she took her food to eat in the toilets or behind the stairs.
Even when Crystal lost some weight aged 16 for her school prom, she regained it all shortly after.
Incredible Weight Loss Transformation of a Busy Mum
She said: "As I got older, I went through stages where I lost weight by dieting and exercise, but I gained it back again."
She fell pregnant at 19 with her son, Ethan, 10, and then had two more little ones in the following years - Blaze, eight, and Poppy, seven.
With each child she gained more weight, but her weight rose most after a brief split from her then-boyfriend Stephen, in late 2018.
"I was heartbroken," she said. " I'd feed the children healthy foods, then order takeaways for me.
"I'd have huge portions - like chicken wraps and chips with onion rings - from the takeaway every day for nearly two months before we got back together again."
At her largest, Crystal was almost 23 stone - which she stayed at for a "long time".
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Over the following years her weight fluctuated.
She lost some before eventually tying the knot with Stephen in August 2021, but then regaining it due to on-and-off health issues in the months that followed.
She began researching bariatric surgery options and eventually booked a £2,700 gastric sleeve surgery in Istanbul for January 2023.
The common weight-loss procedure that works by reducing the size of your stomach so you can't eat as much food and gain weight.
It involves removing up 80 per cent of the stomach, leaving a narrow tube-shaped "sleeve".
I'd now tell younger Crystal 'not everything is storms and clouds and you will get your happy ending'
Crystal Rudd
The mum adopted a healthier diet, smaller portions and strict exercise regime after.
"I was on a liquid diet," she said. "Then pureed, then eventually I could eat soft foods.
"I still had a romantic Valentine's Day steak dinner - I just pureed my steak and chips!
"I was doing combat classes, body balance and aqua fit too - and the weight came off."
Crystal managed to maintain weight loss despite sustaining a knee injury, getting a severe infection from a spider bite, and losing her beloved nan throughout 2023.
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She hit a milestone of losing 10 stone in January this year - which was when she jetted back to the Turkish clinic to have 11lbs of excess skin removed, as well as liposuction.
The £5,800 procedure took eight hours and left her "looking like Frankenstein's monster" due to the stitches in the healing stages.
But she loves her new frame, even if it's taking some time for her to get used to as a result of body dysmorphia, after being much larger for her entire life.
To show off her achievements she entered a pageant for bariatric patients - and will appear in the Miss Bariatric Lincolnshire final in September.
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She said: "Now I can show my kids they can achieve wonderful things, and they see their mum thriving.
"I'd now tell younger Crystal 'not everything is storms and clouds and you will get your happy ending.'"
CRYSTAL'S DIET: THEN vs. NOW
AT HER HEAVIEST WEIGHT
Breakfast: Bacon sandwiches, or one or two share bags of paprika crisps or sweet chili.
Lunch: Pot noodles, crisps, sandwiches, or two meal deals from Greggs—usually two sandwiches, a cookie, or four sausage rolls.
Dinner: Two chicken wraps, or large cheesy chips, onion rings, and garlic mushrooms.
Snacks: Crisps, chocolate bars, especially Kinder Bueno and Cadbury.
Drinks: Coke, Dr Pepper, Lucozade Orange, Monster Mango Loco, Lucozade Cherry.
NOW
Breakfast: Bowl of cereal (like Choco Shreddies), protein shake, or toast with an egg.
Lunch: Salad with chicken or prawns, crackers with soft cheese, Italian ham, cucumber, and tomatoes. Or a soba noodle pot.
Dinner: Roast dinners, lasagna, scrambled eggs, steak, beans on toast, or a frozen protein meal (like chicken curry, BBQ meat feast pasta, or high-protein chicken pie).
Snacks: Cheese strings, Dairylea Dunkers, crisps, and chocolate in moderation.
Drinks: Tea with reduced sugar or sweetener, flavoured water, sparkling flavoured water.
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