Emma and Dylan Smith ate a huge breakfast of McMuffins after driving their children to school. They were back for chicken wraps at lunchtime then had takeaway burgers every night, usually from KFC.
The combined weight of the couple, who have four children, soared to nearly 40 stone.
They only gave up their gorging when they were turned away from every ride at Butlins in front of their crying family, because both were too fat to do up the safety belts.
Now the blubber has melted away, and they have lost 17 stone between them. Emma, 28, has gone from 22st to 11st. Dylan, 41, who weighed 17st, is 10st 10lbs.
Emma said: “We would drop the children off at school and go to McDonald’s on our way home. We could easily munch our way through three McMuffins every morning.”
At lunchtime they would go back and have two chicken wraps each. For dinner they would have burgers from Burger King or KFC.
Emma said: “We lived on take-away food. We’d snack on McFlurrys and hot chocolates too. It was embarrassing. Staff at McDonald’s knew us so well they knew our order without us having to ask for it.”
Even though Emma has Josh, seven, twins Alex and Hayden, five, and nine-year-old Ellie to look after, she admits. “I never used to cook at home. We weren’t getting fruit or vitamins and became anaemic.”
The crunch came in June 2011 when they went to Butlins to celebrate their sons’ fourth birthday and found they were too fat for the rides.
“We’d travelled all that way and they were so excited about going. But when we got on a ride the belt wouldn’t click over my stomach.
“The assistant saw me struggling and came over and told me that if I couldn’t get it done up then I would have to get off the ride.
“Dylan couldn’t do his up either. We had to get off the ride with the children and they were crying. It was so embarrassing.”
There were plenty of problems when they went out with the kids at home in Frome, Somerset, too.
Emma said: “When we took the children to the park they would beg us to run around with them but we just couldn’t. I’d have to stay sitting on the bench and Dylan’s stomach was nearly as big as mine, so he couldn’t either. He couldn’t play football with the boys.
“If we took them swimming I would wear a T-shirt and shorts to hide my flab.”
The shame Emma and Dylan felt over the Butlins ban prompted them to start dieting, but only joining Slimming World brought them the results they wanted. And they cut out the trips to burger joints.
Emma said: “We tried to lose the weight on our own but we just couldn’t, so we decided that we would join Slimming World.”
The pair, whose typical day’s diet is now Weetabix for breakfast, smoked cod and veg for lunch and homemade bolognese for tea, celebrated by returning to Butlins.
Emma said: “We got on the ride and I went to fasten up the safety harness – this time it was no problem. The children were thrilled.”
