{"id":393147,"date":"2026-04-11T11:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T11:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/393147\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T11:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T11:19:14","slug":"i-was-so-big-my-body-couldnt-breathe-on-its-own-athlete-who-hit-27st-after-bereavements-loses-third-of-bodyweight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/393147\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I was so big my body couldn\u2019t breathe on its own\u2019: Athlete who hit 27st after bereavements loses third of bodyweight"},"content":{"rendered":"

An athlete who quit sport following a series of bereavements and gained weight to the point where she was \u201cchoking in (her) sleep\u201d has since lost a third of her bodyweight and feels \u201cunbelievably better\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kaitlin Hicks, 29, a teaching assistant who lives with her husband Aiden in North Yorkshire, said she has \u201calways struggled\u201d with her weight and reached her heaviest of 27st 7.5lbs (174.9kg) in 2024.<\/p>\n

Kaitlin, who is 5ft 8in tall, gained weight after a series of consecutive bereavements, including her family dogs, her horse and her grandmother Barbara, who she describes as \u201cglamorous, witty and caring\u201d.<\/p>\n

Moving out of her family home after this, Kaitlin said she \u201cspiralled\u201d and turned to food for comfort, often eating 12-inch takeaway pizzas, chocolate sharing bars and tubs of Ben & Jerry\u2019s ice cream after meals.<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin said her heaviest weight was 27st 7.5lbs (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

However, it was not until she was placed on an NHS waiting list for sleep apnoea \u2013 when breathing stops and starts while sleeping \u2013 and heard how her husband feared she might \u201cchoke and die\u201d that she knew she needed to take action.<\/p>\n

From September 2024, she said she started monitoring her food intake with the nutrition-tracking app MyFitnessPal and temporarily incorporated a prescribed GLP-1 medication \u2013 Mounjaro \u2013 as part of her wider health plan, before stopping this and continuing her weight loss through diet and training.<\/p>\n

While Kaitlin describes herself as a naturally \u201cmuscular woman\u201d, she said she is now the \u201cfittest (and) healthiest\u201d she has ever been, weighing 18st (114.3kg), and she has returned to sport.<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin has lost a third of her bodyweight so far (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Speaking about her transformation, she told PA Real Life: \u201cNow I just think, why on Earth didn\u2019t I do any of it sooner?<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost feel sad that I lost so many years of my life struggling with being overweight and unhappy but, in the moment, I don\u2019t think there was a single person on this planet who could have changed my mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, it\u2019s the small wins \u2013 not needing a seatbelt extender on an aeroplane, being able to go up a couple of flights of stairs without being out of breath and being able to walk however far without it hurting.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, every year my husband and I go on a cruise\u2026 and I\u2019ve always been too heavy for the water slides, but last year I was light enough to go on them and I was like a five-year-old child again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin now competes in the Highland Games (Hannah Bailey\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Kaitlin has always been sporty, playing rugby, rounders and netball, riding horses and competing in athletics disciplines such as the shot put.<\/p>\n

She said her proudest achievements growing up include competing at English Schools\u2019 Athletic Association competitions and consistently ranking in the UK\u2019s top 10 for her age group in the shot put.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the north east shot put champion, the best in the north east if you like, and I think I held my title indoors and outdoors for about six years in a row,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However, alongside this, Kaitlin said she struggled with her weight and did not have the best relationship with food.<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin said she turned to food for comfort while grieving (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my life I\u2019ve struggled with my weight,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can remember the photographs of me when I was eight years old, riding horses, and I was always chunky.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been much bigger than my peers\u2026 I\u2019m just not a dainty woman and I never will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaitlin continued training and competing until she experienced a series of bereavements in 2021, describing it as the \u201cworst year\u201d of her life.<\/p>\n

She said her family dogs died, followed by her horse, and her grandmother Barbara, known affectionately as Barbie, died of cancer, aged 78, in the July.<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin said she reached her heaviest weight after a series of bereavements (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Kaitlin bought her own house in March 2022 with her husband and, while grieving, she said she \u201cspiralled\u201d and her mental health deteriorated.<\/p>\n

She turned to food for comfort and this caused her to gradually gain weight and reach her heaviest of 27st 7.5lbs (174.9kg), wearing a dress size 28.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuying my own house at the time, it was much easier to buy the food I wanted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d have as many takeaways as I wanted because nobody was watching and I\u2019d eat as much chocolate as I wanted because nobody was watching.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant that I could get away with eating what I wanted and I think that was the downfall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin before her weight loss journey (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Kaitlin said her \u201cbiggest weakness\u201d was sweet treats, but she often had 12-inch pizzas or meals with large amounts of carbohydrates, such as two packets of Ben\u2019s rice with cans of tinned tuna.<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cI could eat tubs of Ben & Jerry\u2019s ice cream easily, the big sharing bars of chocolate, and it wasn\u2019t just a couple of nights a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single night I was having chocolate or some sort of sweet treat\u2026 and it was the portions as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Kaitlin was not exercising at the time, she said she was not \u201cburning off\u201d those surplus calories \u2013 and it started affecting her sleeping, too.<\/p>\n

At her lowest point, in 2023, she said she was placed on an NHS waiting list for sleep apnoea and her husband would lie awake at night, fearing for her life.<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin with her husband Aiden (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially, I was choking in my sleep,\u201d Kaitlin explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would stop breathing and then let out this guttural choke and then wake up because I\u2019d just stopped breathing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband said to me: \u2018I lie awake most nights, watching you sleep, because I\u2019m worried that you\u2019re going to choke and die in your sleep\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe I\u2019d got so big my body couldn\u2019t even breathe properly on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin said she now feels \u2018unbelievably better\u2019 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

That same year, Kaitlin said her coach asked her if she would consider training for the Highland Games, which feature traditional Highland sports, such as the caber toss, hammer throw and tug o\u2019 war.<\/p>\n

At this point, it had been months since she had done any sport, but she knew her lifestyle needed to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeep down, inside, I probably wasn\u2019t happy with how I looked, but I tried to show others that I was happy and I was just a confident, plus-sized woman,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After seeing a friend compete internationally, Kaitlin realised she wanted to get back into sport and, from September 2024, she was determined to turn her life around.<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin now weighs 18 stone (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

She started tracking her food intake, calories and portions with the MyFitnessPal<\/a> app and she temporarily incorporated Mounjaro injections, before stopping this and maintaining her weight loss through diet and training.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted to be an international athlete, and I realised my weight was stopping me from doing that \u2013 it affected my agility, fitness and everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used MyFitnessPal like a Bible in the beginning. I was religious with what I was putting into that app \u2013 every single thing that touched my lips, I\u2019d put it in the app.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the months, I\u2019ve been able to retrain my brain, and I very much see food as fuel now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlin<\/p>\n

Kaitlin has returned to sport (Hannah Bailey\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Now, Kaitlin weighs 18st (114.3kg) and wears a dress size 18, and she represents her country in the Highland Games, competing in the caber toss, hammer throw and stone put disciplines.<\/p>\n

In 2025, she competed at the IHGF World Amateur Highland Games Championships, finishing seventh in the world, and she has since been invited to compete at the European and World Championships this season.<\/p>\n

Her main goal is to reach 16st (101.6kg) and, later on, she might look into surgery to remove any loose skin, but she said she feels \u201cunbelievably better\u201d and hopes to inspire others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the fittest, healthiest 18 stone I think I\u2019ve ever been in my life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel unbelievably better, I sleep so much better, I\u2019m happier, I\u2019ve got more patience for people and I enjoy my training so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I probably just enjoy life a lot more and, being sad in every capacity beforehand, it\u2019s nice to be past that now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An athlete who quit sport following a series of bereavements and gained weight to the point where she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[499,174109,103,61,60,174110,4880,37825],"class_list":{"0":"post-393147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-gained-weight","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-kaitlin","14":"tag-pa","15":"tag-real-life"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}