A 36-year-old mother of seven, who weighed over 21 stone and relied on painkillers to get through a Disneyland trip, has almost halved her body weight by swapping weight loss injections for an old-fashioned calorie-counting method she discovered on TikTok.
A Turning Point at Disneyland
Hannah Baldwin, from Swindon, Wiltshire, said she piled on the pounds due to being a 'big snacker', gorging on takeaways and sweet treats every night. At her heaviest, she was a size 28 and weighed 21 stone 4 pounds. She admitted hiding biscuits behind sofa cushions so her children wouldn't eat them. The turning point came during a family trip to Disneyland in September 2024, where she was forced to take strong painkillers just to walk around the park.
"I was in so much pain with my hip and my back that I was taking codeine just to be able to walk around Disneyland. We got back from that holiday and I saw photos of myself on the beach. I couldn't enjoy my holiday, my children were missing out, I looked horrendous and I just thought 'no, I've got to change my life'," she said.
Ditching Skinny Jabs for Calorie Counting
In a desperate bid to lose weight, Hannah initially tried a two-month course of 'skinny jabs', but soon abandoned them due to severe side effects and high costs. "I tried them when I first started but they gave me the most awful belly and rib pain to the point I was in Asda and couldn't walk. They're so expensive and I couldn't afford them," she explained.
Instead, she turned to TikTok, where she saw people calorie counting to lose weight. "I thought 'you know what I can do that. I've tried everything else, let me give this a go' and I've not looked back," she said. Now, instead of consuming up to 6,000 calories a day, the 5-foot-4-inch mum eats around 1,900 calories per day, focusing on home-cooked meals and swapping biscuits and crisps for fruit.
Remarkable Weight Loss
Since starting her weight loss journey 16 months ago, Hannah has dropped almost 10 stone. She now weighs 11 stone 6 pounds and wears a size 14. She describes how her life has changed: "It sounds so silly but just going to parents' evening and being able to sit on the chairs, going out for walks with the kids and being able to catch up with them and not being out of breath is amazing."
Fundraising for Tummy Tuck
Despite her success, Hannah is left with loose skin, particularly on her belly, which she says 'claps' when she runs. She has set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for a tummy tuck and mons lift, as the surgery is not available on the NHS. She has been quoted nearly £7,000 for the procedure in Turkey. "I have a lot of loose skin everywhere but it's my belly that bothers me. I now run and I'm quite active but now it's getting warmer. If I want to exercise I have to wear compression garments," she said.
"Fat stores where it wants to store, you don't get a choice. It's not something that looks nice so it's vanity, I'm not going to lie, but it's also health wise because it is really sore and not nice to live with. When I look down all I can see is my belly so to me I still feel like that 21 stone girl even though I know that I'm not."
