A woman who lost 30 stone after getting divorced has found love again – and keeps her size 7XL clothes as a reminder of how far she has come. Tanya Santiago, 31, weighed 42st 12lbs at her heaviest but decided to make a change after suffering a miscarriage and deciding to end her two year marriage.
Tanya started walking and swimming before getting the courage to go the gym. In a year she had lost 17st 12lbs but was then told by her doctor she had fatty liver disease and urgently needed a gastric bypass to help her.
Now down to a slender 12st 2lbs – after having the operation in January 2023 – and wearing a size small Tanya feels amazing and has found a new love in her partner, Gabriel, 27. Tanya, a retail store manager, said: “I was a 7XL at my biggest.I have them as a reminder.
“Every day it amazes me that I can run. I have so much more energy.”
Tanya had got so big she struggled to get out of bed and “everyday tasks were difficult”. She said: “I ate anything I could get my hands on.Chinese was my go to and Mexican.I’d eat enormous portions – for a family of six.”
She weighed 42st 12lbs at her heaviest recorded weight and realised she needed to make a change after a traumatic miscarriage in 2020. Tanya said: “I stopped weighing myself at 600lbs.I had irregular periods – they were really heavy and lasted a year.”
She had a procedure to remove tissue from inside her uterus and found she had miscarried. Tanya, who hadn’t even known she was pregnant, said: “I was three months along and my body was rejecting the pregnancy.I had to get an abortion pill as I was too big to go on the table.”
The scare put things into perspective and made her realise she couldn’t carry a baby and become a mum without putting herself in serious danger. After grieving, she realised she wasn’t happy in her marriage and filed for divorce in December 2021.
Tanya began exercising in whatever way she could – starting with short walks and pool exercises. She cut back on her food intake – swapping her Chinese takeaways for low carb homemade meals.By January 2023, Tanya had lost 17st 12lbs but despite this her health was deteriorating.
She said: “I went to the doctor and he said it’s great you’ve lost all this weight but you have fatty liver disease and it’s going to turn into cancer.”
They advised her she would need a gastric bypass to help her lose the additional weight and reverse the disease. After her four-hour operation, Tanya continued with her exercise – and now workouts six days a week for two hours a day.She is now a slender 12st 2lbs she says her family hardly recognise her.
Tanya said: “My family hadn’t really seen me since my weight loss as I moved.” She added: ” They didn’t get to see the full transformation.When I went home they said ‘who is this lady at my door?’.
“I did something with my niece. We met at the mall and I started walking towards her and locked eyes but she just walked past. “I rolled up behind her and hugged her and she said ‘who is this lady?’.They said ‘you shape shift’.”
Tanya said her old lifestyle feels like an “old TV show that used to air”. She said: “Every day it amazes me that I can run.I have so much more energy.”
She also met her new partner, Gabriel, a mechanic in the navy, in 2022 – halfway through her weight loss journey. Tanya said: “When I met him I said ‘I’m working on myself’, ‘I’m going to lose all this weight.’ ‘If you don’t match my goals I can’t be with you’.He looks at old photos and can’t believe it used to be me.”
Tanya still keeps her old 7XL clothes as a “reminder” of how far she has come. She is now on her way to becoming an online coach and bodybuilder.She said: “I just want to help other people.If I can do it you guys can too.”