A SIZE 26 mum who people yelled “fatty” at in the street now confidently flaunts her “Kim Kardashian-like” curves.
Jordanna Bell, who previously tipped the scales at 20st, dropped eight dress sizes and now feels better than ever.
Jordanna Bell weighing 20st before her dramatic weight lossKennedy News
The 33-year-old, who now feels more confident than everKennedy News
The former junk food addict credits ditching her twice-weekly takeaways and a £15,000 gastric sleeve and tummy tuck.
The 33-year-old said: “I was absolutely disgusted when I looked in the mirror.
“I’m such a positive person and I always wanted to inspire and help people [but] I felt like I couldn’t live to my full potential.
“I never, ever in a million years thought I’d look like this now.
“I’ve had people comment saying, ‘Kim Kardashian body’, ‘Jessica Rabbit,’ and I’m like ‘sorry what?’”
Jordanna, from Hyde, Greater Manchester, first noticed she was “bigger than everyone else” at the age of six.
This continued throughout her childhood, and by her mid-20s, she was caught in a vicious cycle of dieting and bingeing.
“I did various diets and lost a lot of weight, then always put it back on and more,” she said.
“My relationship with food was really bad from that mentality; January would come and I would dread that first weigh-in after Christmas and get back on a new diet for the new year.
“I’ve got a diagnosed binge-eating disorder. You can’t just say ‘don’t eat it’. It takes over your body and you just do it anyway.”
Jordanna not only struggled with the quality of food she was eating, but also the quantity – regularly devouring large portions alongside family-sized bags of crisps and sweets.
She also forked out £200 a month on takeaways, gobbling down large Chinese and McDonald’s orders two or three times a week.
Jordanna said: “When I think back, I would sit and eat a takeaway followed by a family-sized bag of crisps and a sharing bag of chocolate all to myself, but now I can’t eat more than my three-year-old.”
Cruel strangers would brand her “fatty” while she was out in public, and she was called a “sumo wrestler” because she skipped breakfast.
“I would just be walking down the street and, I’m not talking about children, I mean other adults, usually men in vans, would shout ‘run fatty run’ and things like that,” Jordanna said.
“It’s traumatised me.
“I also remember somebody making a comment that I had a ‘sumo wrestler’s diet’ because they skip breakfast like I did.”
Eventually, she reached breaking point. Wanting to be a role model for her children, the 5ft 3in mum-of-two researched weight loss surgery in Turkey.
She took the plunge and booked to have a gastric sleeve operation (where part of the stomach is removed to make it smaller) in July 2021.
“I was at the point where I just thought ‘I can’t do this anymore’,” Jordanna, who lives with her husband Sam Bell, 38, and two children Darcie, seven, and Bobby, three, said.
“I was so unhappy and it was affecting me as a mother because I was just disgusted with how I looked.
“How could I be a role model to my children when I felt this low about myself?”
Kennedy NewsCruel strangers would yell ‘fatty’ at her in the street[/caption]
Jordanna used to eat up to three takeaways a weekKennedy News
Kennedy NewsThe mum-of-three before and after her excess skin removal procedure and breast uplift[/caption]
Jordanna was so “desperate” she travelled abroad alone, which was “really, really scary”.
But she was quickly reassured she was making the right decision on the flight over.
“When I got on the plane, I had to ask for an extended belt,” she said.
“I couldn’t get my table down to put my drink down so I just held my drink in my hand.”
The operation was a success. And after losing a staggering 8st in 18 months, the bank operations manager underwent several further procedures to remove 1st of excess skin and a breast uplift as her “boobs hit her knees”.
Combined, these cost a total of £15,000.
Now, Jordanna is a slim size 10 and she says she has achieved her “dream body”.
‘It has completely changed my life’
“It has completely changed my life,” she said.
“[It’s] not just the way I look [but] the way I feel, my career, my relationship, my friendships, as a parent, and how I talk to my children.
“The surgery was the most life-changing because my boobs were at the knees and my stomach was not nice, whereas the follow-up procedures were more the finishing touches to give me the body that I never ever thought I’d have.
“Since I’ve had gastric sleeve surgery I’ve had two promotions at work and I’m doing my dream job now.
“Weight loss surgery isn’t anything to be ashamed of. I’m so proud of that and that’s something I would really love to get across.”
Her sister Chelsea Turner, 34, who had a gastric sleeve operation six months after Jordanna, added: “My whole life has changed after having weight loss surgery and skin removal.
“I now feel like I’m the person I’ve always known I truly am in my heart.
“My family life now involves more fun activities as I’m healthy enough to do them.
“All of this has been even better doing it alongside my sister, we have been able to support each other through this journey and hope we can help others through our story.”
Jordanna after losing more than 8st in 18 monthsKennedy News
GettyJordanna has been compared to Kim Kardashian for her curves[/caption]
Jordanna with her husband Sam Bell, 38, and two children Darcie, seven, and Bobby, threeKennedy News
Kennedy NewsThe parent spent £15,000 on operations in total[/caption]
Kennedy NewsJordanna before she had surgery to remove her loose skin[/caption]
Kennedy NewsThe bank operations manager before and after her second plastic surgery[/caption]
Kennedy NewsJordanna with her sister Chelsea, who had gastric sleeve surgery six months later[/caption]
AlamyPeople have also likened her figure to Jessica Rabbit’s[/caption]
Jordanna’s diet before and after her weight loss
TYPICAL DAY BEFORE
Breakfast: Nothing
Lunch: Sandwich with crisps
Dinner: Chicken curry or chilli with a whole packet of microwavable rice, home-made chips and garlic bread / or one to three takeaways a week (either a Chinese or McDonalds)
Snack: Family bag of Doritos and a big block of Dairy Milk chocolate
TYPICAL DAY NOW
Breakfast: Greek yoghurt with fruit and seeds
Lunch: Shredded chicken salad
Dinner: Bolognese with cheese, usually without the pasta
Snack: Protein yoghurt or shake
Weight loss surgery can be safe and successful, but it can be dangerous and it is not worth risking your life for.
Leading surgeon Andrew de Beaux, from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, said: “In the last three months we’ve had two patients that have stepped off a plane and been admitted to hospital and they are still in hospital.
“It’s frustrating on all the levels in terms of why couldn’t we look after them at NHS Scotland and then the need to travel so far away, in a sense risking their lives for a goal of losing weight.”
Risks involved in weight loss surgery include blood clots and the gut becoming blocked or narrowed.
The recovery period requires an intensive aftercare regime which can involve special diets and vitamins.