EVERY bride wants to look her best on her wedding day.
And for Lisa Stubbs that meant going through incalculable pain to achieve the body of her dreams.
Showing off the results of her, Lisa at last felt proud to be walking down the aisle earlier this month.
Lisa Stubbs was desperate to slim down before her wedding dayCredit: Focus Features
Lisa dropped from 19 and a half stone to 13 stone after a gastric sleeve on the NHSCredit: Focus Features
In order to get herself aisle-ready Lisa, 45, had a on the NHS in November last year, followed by a breast reduction six months later, and after years of unhappiness over her figure, she was finally able to enjoy the day of her dreams with her groom, Charles Denton, 33.
Lisa dropped from 19 and a half stone to 13 stone, and from a 44HH cup to a 38C. She lost an incredible 7lbs of during surgery.
Meanwhile, her groom, Charles, lost eight stone thanks to
Lisa says: “I wanted to get married, but I always said I would never walk down the aisle. My bothered me even more than my weight.
“I feel so happy with the way I look now, I’m like a new woman.
“On my , I was on the dance floor until 3am – I’d never have had the confidence or the energy to dance in public before my ops.
“As for my , I loved being the centre of attention. My life really has been transformed.”
Lisa, a specialist service consultant from Wakefield, West , was always naturally slim with big breasts.
In 2011, she met Charles at the pool hall where she worked, and they fell in love over their love of playing pool, but didn’t begin dating for another two years.
Lisa says: “I’d never had any problems with my weight; I ate and drank whatever I liked. My big treat was a curry and a few lagers after a pool match.”
But in 2016, after three years together, she began gaining weight.
She says: “At first, I blamed my diet. I thought maybe I was eating the wrong stuff because I felt so secure with Charles. But by the end of 2017, I’d gained over five stone.
“I tried diets but really couldn’t lose weight. I quickly lost heart. It was hard to stay motivated without results.
“I knew my chest wasn’t helping either, because my boobs weighed so much. To some people, my big boobs were a joke or an asset, but they were really getting me down.”
Lisa says that not only was she unhappy with the look of her breasts but they were impacting her day to day life.
Lisa had previously been as size 24 on her top half and a size 18 on her bottomCredit: Focus Features
Lisa paid £9600 privately for a breast reduction, which went well, and she recovered quickly, going from a size 44HH to a 38CCredit: Focus Features
“I was so out of breath, I couldn’t even put my own shoes on,” she says. “My belly was propping up my boobs and I couldn’t move my arms properly when I walked.
“I couldn’t exercise at all, and I had a constant nagging back pain because I was carrying my huge breasts around.
“By now, I was playing pool for the West Yorkshire team. I really loved competing, but I couldn’t even enjoy that. I couldn’t bend properly to take a shot because my boobs and my stomach were in the way.
“My body shape was making me miserable. I went from being smiley and sociable, to thinking up excuses to stay at home on my own.”
In 2022, Charles asked Lisa to marry him.
I was over the moon when Charles asked me to marry him, but I realised there was no way I could walk down the aisle.
Lisa
“I just didn’t have the confidence. Charles was very understanding and didn’t push me to set a date.”
Lisa saw her GP and tests showed her thyroid levels were very low, meaning she struggled to lose weight.
She says: “I was a dress size 24 on the top and an 18 on the bottom. I knew something had to change.
“Even though Charlie and I were engaged there was no way I could think about getting married the way I was.”
At 19 and a half stones, with a 44HH chest and at just 5’5” tall, she was terribly imbalanced.
In desperation, she saw her GP and pleaded for help. She was referred for bariatric surgery but warned there was a long wait.
First, she had to follow a weight management programme for 12 months.
What is the difference between a gastric band, bypass and sleeve?
The three most widely used types of weight loss surgery are:
- : where a band is used to reduce the stomach’s size, meaning you will feel full after eating a reduced amount of food
- : where your digestive system is re-routed past stomach, so you digest less food and it takes less to make you feel full
- : where some of the stomach is removed, to reduce the amount of food required to make you feel full
In November last year, she was offered a gastric sleeve as a day patient – the first surgery of its kind in Yorkshire.
She says: “I wasn’t at all nervous. I couldn’t wait for my surgery.”
Lisa had 80% of her stomach removed through keyhole surgery and she was allowed home later that same day. In her first week, she lost an amazing 12lbs.
Lisa explains: “My weight loss balanced out to around 3lbs a week and I was really pleased, but I still had the problem of my large boobs.
“I couldn’t enjoy my new figure because of my chest and I still had awful backache.
Every doctor I saw agreed I desperately needed a breast reduction, but the strict criteria on the NHS meant I’d have to wait at least three years. So I went private.
Lisa
In May this year, Lisa paid £9600 privately for a breast reduction, which went well, and she recovered quickly, going from a size 44HH to a 38C.
She says: “It seemed like a lot of money, and I was lucky that I had help from family.
“But looking back, it was worth every penny. I made a quick recovery, and I’m really thrilled with the results.
“I bought myself a £5 bra from Primark recently and I’ve treated myself to a whole new wardrobe. I’ve sent 10 bags of clothes to the charity shop.
“I’ve started walking and swimming and I did my first ever jog on a treadmill. I’ve gone back to playing pool too. I’m so much more active than I used to be and I’m far less stressed.
“The breast surgery has been more transformative than the gastric sleeve. I’ve been so lucky with both surgeries, I had a great surgeon and team each time, and I can’t thank them all enough.”
Lisa is now under 13 stone and a dress size 14/12. Earlier this month, she and Charlie were married at Wakefield Town Hall. He has so far lost eight stones using weight loss jabs.
Lisa says: “I kept having to have my wedding dress taken in because I was losing weight. I just keep on shrinking!
Lisa says that Charles (pictured together before weight loss) was totally understanding about her need to wait to get marriedCredit: Focus Features
The couple had both slimmed down for their wedding day as Charles took weight loss jabs to lose weightCredit: Focus Features
“These days, my diet is high in protein and low in fat and I drink water, not lager. I enjoy the occasional pint of Guinness but that’s all.
“I track everything I eat and drink on an app which helps me to stay focussed.
“Most of all, I miss a Sunday roast because my portion sizes are so small that I can’t fit in all the elements.
“That said, I don’t regret a thing. The benefits of surgery far outweigh the drawbacks. On my hen do recently, I was on the dancefloor until 3am.
“My friends had to literally drag me off it! I’d never have had the confidence or the energy to dance in public before my ops.
“I’d advise anyone in my situation to do it – but do it properly. Take advice, follow the rules and prepare yourself for a long wait.
“Together, Charles and I have transformed the way we look, and we’ve never been happier. Our wedding day was the icing on the cake.”
