We weighed 45 stone but lost 17 stone after £7k gastric band holiday


A couple managed to shed a whopping 17st after opting for a ‘his and hers’ gastric band surgery package deal ‘holiday’ to Lithuania, costing them £7k.

Glenn and Sophie Harris, aged 38 and 35, had a combined weight of 45st and were scared of dying young and leaving their children alone. They used to live on takeaways, including extra large pizzas and curries, with Glenn confessing he was “worse” than his wife.

The turning point came when Sophie realised she couldn’t continue her treatment for an existing medical condition unless she lost weight.

So, in August last year, they travelled to Vilnius in Lithuania for a “package deal” that included gastric sleeve operations, flights, hotels, recovery, a ‘handler’, and even taxis. In just six months, Glenn has slimmed down from 25st 7lb to 14st 13lb and now fits into a 34in waist trouser, a significant drop from his previous size of 46in.

Sophie, who initially weighed 19st 6lb, is now 13st 9lb (191lbs) and has dropped from a size 24 to a size 14-16. The journey wasn’t easy, and at one point, they could only consume pureed sausages, half-a-cup of water and pots of yoghurt.

Glenn, an operations manager from Redditch, Worcestershire, said: “The lifestyle change came after we decided we wanted to do more for ourselves and live longer for our kids.”

“Now I’ve got loads more energy. We’re still cheering each other on. Ever since we had the surgery, we put a couples’ tracking chart on the wall – we sold all our clothes together and we go shopping for new outfits together.”

Sophie added: “We just feel great now. We can do so much more as a couple, feeling like we have the confidence to go to clothes shops and try on new fashions. Health-wise it’s been great – we’ve got so much energy.”

Glenn reckons he was eating around 3,500 calories a day before the procedure – including pizzas, curries, ready meals and 10 to 15 cans of Pepsi Max a day.

Glen said: “I started off a lot heavier than my wife – but she’s also disabled, and couldn’t keep having surgeries while gaining weight. We decided we needed to make a drastic change – so started looking into gastric bypass surgeries in Lithuania.”

A couple of months before the surgeries, Glenn and Sophie began consulting with surgeons in the UK, seeking reassurance they were making the right decision. They also met with their Lithuanian surgeon on Zoom, who recommended a package deal.

“Including flights, it all cost £7k – we used our savings and borrowed some money from family, which is all paid back now.”

Three weeks before the operations, the couple were told to reduce their caloric intake by 3000 to 500 – and eat mainly protein. They ate steaks, chicken breasts and lamb chops – leaving them feeling sluggish and “hangry”.

On August 17, they flew out and underwent their surgeries. Their recovery plan lasted 10 weeks – but they went back to work in just five days.

Sophie said: “Obviously, it was nerve wracking and a very big step – it was something we definitely wanted to do, but we were apprehensive at first. Especially going abroad – we were nervous. But we did lots and lots of research, having loads of Zoom calls.”

Within just six months, Glenn slimmed down to 209lbs, while Sophie dropped to 191lbs..

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