Vicky Edwards, 43, transformed her life after reaching nearly 13 stone during the pandemic
Nicole Goodwin City Centre Reporter and Molly Powell, PA
13:46, 05 Feb 2026Updated 13:57, 05 Feb 2026
Vicky has dropped from a size 18 to size 8
An England weightlifting kettlebell competitor has revealed how she rediscovered her “thirst for life” and dropped five dress sizes. Vicky Edwards once referred to herself as “fat and ugly” daily and felt she wasn’t being a “good example for patients” whilst working as a pandemic nurse.
Long shifts surrounded by seriously ill patients left Vicky with minimal time or energy for exercise. Consuming up to 6,000 calories daily through comfort eating, she watched herself steadily gaining weight.
However, when she hit 12st 13lbs (82.1kg) in 2021, Vicky decided to take action after realising her eldest son Daniel, now 19, had picked up her negative self-talk, remarking on how he was “chubbier” than his brother Callum, now 17. In October 2021, she enrolled in Slimming World, prioritised eating more whole foods and subsequently joined a gym.
She has since slimmed down from a size 18 to a size 8 and begun competing in weightlifting kettlebell competitions representing England.
Vicky Edwards, 43, from Darlington, told PA Real Life: “It’s like having imposter syndrome – I keep going out and buying the wrong sizes. I couldn’t really get my head around how I’d fit into a size eight when I was a size 18 for all those years.”
“It wasn’t until I took my measurements and realised my waist is now smaller than what my thigh used to be when I first started.”
Now running her own healthcare consultancy as managing director and competing for the England kettlebell team, Vicky can lift her own body weight overhead and describes feeling stronger, more self-assured and comfortable in her own skin.
Prior to the pandemic, Vicky weighed 10st 7lbs (66.7kg), but by autumn 2021 had reached her peak weight of 12st 13lbs (82.1kg), fitting into size 16 to 18 clothing with an obese BMI of 33.1. During this period, she estimates her daily calorie intake ranged between 4,000 and 6,000.
Her typical day included scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, followed by morning snacks of fruit, chocolate and cereal bars. Lunch consisted of a sandwich, crisps and a chocolate bar, whilst dinner was spaghetti bolognese, rounded off with hot chocolate and biscuits before bedtime.
Vicky used to have an obese BMI (Image: PA)
Vicky now competes in weightlifting kettlebell competitions for England(Image: PA)
She said: “I started comfort eating and wasn’t able to go to the gym that I would normally have gone to, not that I really particularly enjoyed going. I just lost that thirst for life – I just wanted to get up, exist, make sure we all stayed alive and then went home again.
“And then once Covid started settling down a little bit, I thought, ‘I’m just getting fatter now, I might as well just keep eating’. It wasn’t until I then re-joined the human race and went back to work that people started commenting on how big I’d got – and that’s when I realised that it’s not what I wanted.”
Vicky’s weight had severely impacted her mental wellbeing, with her waking up each day telling herself she was “fat and ugly”, feeling “self-conscious” and “uncomfortable” in her own body. The turning point came when she heard her eldest son making comments about his own size, which she attributed to her own negative self-talk.
She explained: “He used to say that he’s chubbier than his brother and I just wanted them to have a positive relationship with their bodies, especially as they get older.”
Following her decision to join her local Slimming World group, Vicky transformed her eating habits. Her day now starts with Weetabix, milk and fruit for breakfast, with snacks of fruit, pickled onions and carrot sticks throughout the day.
Vicky can lift her bodyweight above her head.(Image: PA)
Lunch typically involves a single meal prepared for the entire week, such as spaghetti bolognese packed with vegetables, whilst dinner features low-fat burgers or meatballs, rounded off with a low-calorie hot chocolate or yoghurt.
Vicky recalled: “I felt like it was cheating and it doesn’t feel restrictive at all. In my first week, I lost 10-and-a-half pounds, and I just thought, ‘Wow, I just want to do this all the time’.”
Following the programme for 18 months and starting at the gym in spring 2022, she reached 10 stone (63.5kg). Currently weighing 8st 2lbs (51.7kg), she’s focused on maintaining her weight loss whilst building strength through weightlifting.
She also took up kettlebell training alongside her husband Paul, 44, a classroom assistant, and their two sons, Callum, 17, and Daniel, 19. The endurance-based weightlifting sport involves performing repetitions of overhead lifts with a kettlebell weight.
In 2025, she qualified for the England kettlebell team, run by the English Kettlebell Association.
Vicky explained: “I have to swing at least 16kg above my head for 12 minutes non-stop and do as many reps as I can. I can swing my bodyweight above my head and compete against other people, and I do 90 minutes of training three times a week.
“I’ve got to re-qualify for the team in February, because you have to do it each year.”
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