Real Life: My husband was a 30st lump of lard

Gazing over at my hubby, I couldnt help thinking that, after 25 years together, Bob wasnt the man he used to be. In fact, he was twice the size, and that was the problem. Id met Bob in a local pub. Back then, he was a strapping 6ft 2in stud, weighing only 16st. After two years together, we got married and had our five kids: Sarran, 33, Amanda, 31, Derek, 29, Kirsty, 25, and Richard, 21.

During the first years of our marriage, Bob worked as a doorman. Hed be out all hours and would eat bacon butties and chocolate bars through the night. Then he became a pub landlord.

Bob loved his lager, and knocked back at least 10 pints a day. He didnt eat healthily, and his weight crept up to a whopping 30st.

Are you sure you should be eating that? Id ask, as he tucked into another piece of fried bread, the grease thick on his chin. Im hungry, love, hed reply. But he was turning into a porker.

I liked to think of him as my hunk of love, but now he was a lump of lard, and he could hardly walk. Maybe you should go on a diet, Id suggest, but it was no good. He just wasnt motivated.

One day, we got a letter from the brewery. They were selling our pub, so wed have to find somewhere else to go. A new starts not a bad idea, I soothed.

We went for interview after interview for a new pub, but we didnt get anywhere for nearly three months.

Whats going on? Bob muttered, after another failure. I think theyre not giving us anything because of the way I look, he wailed. Surely not, the punters love you, I replied. But the brewery think Im fat and ugly! he said.

I was worried Bobs spirit had been broken. It was true some people were shocked by his size. Customers used to shout things like: Who ate all the pies? or You fat b*stard. He couldnt even walk around the bar quickly enough to serve the customers. Finally, we were offered another pub we were overjoyed. I thought it might be the spur Bob needed to lose weight. A new pub, new customers and a new start. But he just carried on as normal.

The years passed. Things got so bad, Bob couldnt fit in the bath. Well, he could get in, but he had difficulty getting out. Id catch sight of him perched on the edge of the bed, struggling to get his socks on. It broke my heart.

Even more worryingly, he started having chest pains. One day, Bob came back from the doctors. Hes concerned about my heart, he said. He tried eating well, and took diet pills, but it didnt work. In desperation, we went back to the doctor. Theres an operation that can help, he told us.

We read about the op Bob would have a laparoscopic gastric band inserted in his stomach, this would mean he could only eat a limited amount, which would help him lose weight. Apparently Sharon Osbourne had the same one.

Bob finally went under the knife in Birminghams Heartland Hospital in July this year. I prayed hed be OK. The operation lasted nearly three hours I paced the corridors.

Everything went well and he was out after a few days. Then the weight began to drop off. In just nine weeks, Bob had lost 9st, disappearing before my eyes. He weighs 19 stone now, and is getting healthier by the minute. My hubbys back to Bob, not Blob.

WHAT BOB USED TO EAT

3 fried eggs, bacon, fried bread, baked beans

2 chocolate bars

5 pork chops, mashed potato, beans

Bacon butty

Ten pints of lager a day

WHAT

BOB EATS NOW

1 piece of toast, beans

Soup

Fishfingers, beans, baked potato

Nothing

Four pints of lager once a week

WHAT BOB SAYS

I wasnt always fat. I used to be tall, slim and athletic, but my eating got out of control. It was ridiculous Id eat all the wrong things at all the wrong times. I hated being so big, and I felt guilty about it - it wasnt fair on Gina. I couldnt help her around the house, and our sex life was non-existent, but I didnt know what to do. My health was going downhill, and I knew I had to take action, so when the doctor suggested the band, it sounded great. Just before the operation, I was terrified. I got to the hospital and felt like walking straight out of there, but I managed to calm down. The op lasted three hours, and after a day I was up and walking about again. I noticed I didnt need to eat as much, and my energy soared. If Im putting on weight, I can have another operation to tighten the band. Our kids are so proud of me, and I feel like a new man.

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