Yorkshire woman loses 10 stone in a year after travelling to Latvia for gastric bypass surgery

Aimee Takacs, 32, now credits the surgery with helping her feel less self-conscious and more confident. She travelled to Latvia where she paid just over £5k - saving over half on the £13k she was quoted for the surgery in the UK. And after shrinking from a size from 22 to 8, she said she feels more confident, and only wishes she'd made the change sooner.

Aimee, of Doncaster, who underwent surgery in September 2021, said: "I've been known to wear jeans on the beach before because I was so self-conscious. I've lost so much time not doing what I want to do, I'm not getting that time back - from this point on I get to live my best life.

"Being a construction manager and a woman working in construction I really struggled with my confidence before - now I hold myself differently. I guess I see myself as being the best version of me and that comes across in my work as well now."

Aimee first realised she needed to change her lifestyle when she began experiencing issues with her knees. She was diagnosed with arthritis, and when she met with a surgeon to find out if anything could be done, she was told she may need a knee replacement at the age of 31. The surgeon advised she lose as much weight as she could - however Aimee had always struggled with losing weight and keeping it off.

"I've been trying to lose weight since I was 16 when I joined Weight Watchers," said Aimee. "I tried Slimming World, Weight Watchers, but I always ended up gaining it back and more."

She decided to do some more research into different methods of weight loss, and came across an Instagram post about gastric bands. She says she decided a gastric band was 'too dangerous', but found an alternative instead - gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass surgery is the process of dividing the stomach into a smaller upper pouch and a larger lower pouch - thus reducing the volume of the stomach.

She decided she wanted to go ahead with gastric bypass surgery and continued to research the procedure before reaching out to a clinic in Latvia. Just six weeks after her appointment with the surgeon, she was on the theatre table in Latvia, preparing to undergo surgery.

Aimee said: "It was one of those things where I just knew what I needed to do, I just wish I'd have done it sooner. I think you end up getting to quite a desperate place before making these decisions - I could have been in a much better place for much longer if I'd made this decision earlier.

"The surgery was about £4995 and then I paid for extras like £130 for anaesthesia when they did the endoscopy, and I paid for an extra night in the hotel to line up better with the flight but that was pretty much it - it was much better than £13,000 quote I got to have the surgery in the UK."

She says the surgery has entirely changed her relationship with food, helping her slow down and enjoy meals rather than eating for the sake of eating. And, following the weight loss, she was eligible to have an arthroscopy to treat her arthritis and says she hasn't had any problems since.

She was even previously going through the process of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and says she is now no longer in pain. Prior to the surgery, Aimee says she would have started the day with toast lathered in butter and a whole packet of biscuits before the school run.

She would have indulged in a fry-up later in the day and a series of snacks throughout the rest of the day, with a sandwich or pasta for lunch and another meal for dinner. Now, she says she doesn't need to eat as much to feel satisfied - for lunch she enjoys a healthy wrap, and says eating just half a wrap leaves her feeling full.

"It was like a switch had been flicked - I've always been a binge eater and emotional eater, but now the restriction is there, I can't put too much stuff in my mouth," said Aimee. "I can still enjoy my food, I just eat less of it - if I want a slice of cake on my kids birthday, I just enjoy a small slice. It's actually made me enjoy food more because I'm not stuffing it in my mouth just for the sake of eating, I'm actually thinking about what I want to eat.

"Now, I just can't really snack as much - for breakfast I'll have protein yogurt with some granola and for lunch I try to have something light which I actually want like a panini. It's actually satisfying to eat now - I'm not eating for the sake of it anymore."