Melanie Sivier, 38, from Croydon, south London, turned down gastric band surgery offered by the NHS because she wanted to lose weight naturally. At her heaviest, she weighed 25st (159kg) and wore a size 32. Through diet and exercise, she now weighs 15st 6lbs (98kg) and is a size 14.
Weight gain triggers and turning point
Melanie attributed her weight gain to steroid medications, comfort eating, and personal difficulties. She started gaining weight at age eight, and by school years, she developed hypertension that led to fluid buildup on her brain, permanently damaging her vision. During college, she fell into depression and turned to takeaways, desserts, and wine.
In 2011, on a holiday with her mother and sister, she decided to change. She began with swimming and aqua Zumba daily for a year, starting with 25-minute sessions, and overhauled her diet, dropping from size 32 to 26.
Refusing medical interventions
When she visited her GP, she was offered gastric band surgery but refused. She also avoided weight-loss jabs like Mounjaro and Ozempic. Melanie said: "I have just never felt comfortable having something done to lose weight when I know I can do it naturally if I am just patient. Especially with the whole Mounjaro Ozempic phase now, I just don't feel like there is enough evidence that you are not going to have problems when you are older. People who go on the jabs to lose weight have to stay on them to maintain it. I find that scary. It is only meant to be for diabetes, and companies are selling it to people."
Intense exercise and diet regimen
Melanie now hits the gym six times a week and walks 10,000 steps daily. She eats in a calorie deficit, weighs her food (especially carbs), and maintains a high-fibre, high-protein diet while drinking five litres of water daily. She has not drunk wine in 11 years. She said: "I realised that I needed to sort my life out and get healthy. I had felt so low for such a long time and I didn't want to feel like this anymore. Everything just completely changed, it was great. The weight just fell off over a period of time. I am so glad that I started with just small changes. It is not about starving yourself, it is about eating the right things that are good for you and nutritious. I still eat three meals a day."
Health complications from weight loss
The weight loss has caused arthritis in her hips and excess skin on her arms and stomach. Her skin has thinned and split about five times due to sweating from workouts. She said: "It has been a great journey, but what is left is a lot of skin. Because I work out so much and sweat so much that my skin has thinned to the point where it has actually split about five times, which has been unimaginably painful. It is really hard. Sometimes I just feel trapped in my own body. I have breakdowns whenever I am getting ready to go out with friends to socialise because I can't show my arms and I have to wear something that covers my stomach."
Funding struggle for excess skin removal
The NHS denied funding for excess skin removal surgery, with a GP telling Melanie that because she did not have the gastric band, they would not help. A private surgeon at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London quoted £18,195 for the procedure, which she cannot afford. She also has a heart condition, supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), preventing cheaper surgery abroad. Friends set up a GoFundMe page that has raised over £2,000. Melanie said: "I have been told by the NHS that they won't help me because I didn't have the gastric band. That was devastating. After my private consultation I just felt so safe and so validated. Then they sent me the price list and I was in shock. I am one of those people who lives month to month, I don't have massive savings. I still live in a house share because of the cost of living. I know it is only £2,000, but it is quite overwhelming. I did not think that anyone was going to actually donate."
