Fern Britton has been pretty open about her battles with her weight. Back in 2008, the former This Morning star shed a huge five stone, going from a size 22 to a size 12, and the most important factor in her success was a gastric band, which involves putting a small band around the stomach to make it smaller and limit the amount it can contain (and therefore, the amount you can eat).
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Fern was completely transparent about the procedure and how it helped her lose weight and get healthier, and spoke out about it in several interviews.
Back in 2011, she told the Daily Mail: "It's something I did for myself.
"My cholesterol was high. My knee joints were starting to hurt. I wasn't able to run. I was approaching 50 and I thought, 'Do you know what? I'm going to be different when I'm 50'.
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© Photo: Getty ImagesFern Britton in 2009
"I was cycling like mad and nothing was happening. My GP said I was a good candidate for a band, so I went ahead. I needed to get healthy. I wasn't unhappy the way I was; I was unhealthy. I'd been recovering from having children, having a divorce, all those emotional things."
She added that eating and food had become a comfort during this time, and it was only for the gastric band that she was able to turn her life around.
"For me it's worked," she added. "I've got good cholesterol now. I'm incredibly fit. I'm the same size I was at 24. I can do the splits."
Her husband at the time, Phil Vickery, explained that Fern also took on a healthier diet: "Fern has cut back on carbohydrates," he said. "And eats a really healthy diet now with lots of vegetables and fruit.
"She likes my cooking. Family meals are old-fashioned favourites, like cottage pie or chicken with lots of veg and salad."
Now, 64-year-old Fern often updates fans with her workouts on Twitter, most recently including yoga and running, and what's most refreshing about Fern's weight loss story is that it's not focused on aesthetics. Rather than to look a certain way, Fern lost the weight to feel healthier and to be able to exercise again, and that's exactly what she's doing.
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