Doctors Told Woman She’d Be ‘Dead by 30’ If She Didn’t Lose Weight. She Shed More Than 340 Lbs. and Is Now a Mom of 2

“My best non-scale victory is obviously my children. I wouldn’t have been able to have my children if I hadn’t lost the weight,” she said

NEED TO KNOW

• A woman said doctors told her she’d be “dead by 30” if she didn’t lose weight
• A miscarriage eventually inspired Laura Budreviciene to begin her weight-loss journey, and she has since lost 343 lbs. through gastric bypass surgery and weight-loss injections, going from 525 lbs. to 182 lbs.
• Now a mom of two, Laura said her daughters are her greatest achievement and hopes her story inspires others to “just start” their own weight-loss journey

A woman was repeatedly warned by doctors to lose weight, or else she’d die by 30. But she said she didn’t decide to make a change until she experienced a pregnancy loss.

Laura Budreviciene of Nottinghamshire, England, had struggled with her weight since childhood, recalling that she was “the biggest” in her school year by the time she was 11 years old, according to Kennedy News and Media.

“I’ve always been the biggest girl of the group,” Laura, 29, said, per the outlet. “I remember getting weighed at school at 11 and I was 154 lbs. I was the biggest of my year.”

She spent years trying different diets and even joined weight-loss programs at a young age, but her weight continued to climb.

At her heaviest, Laura weighed 525 lbs. She said that everyday activities became increasingly difficult.

“I remember going to [an amusement park] when I was 19 and they couldn’t close the ride on me. I was mortified and told to get off,” she said. “I had to eat laying down because I’d feel so uncomfortable sitting up. I’d just lie down in bed and eat.”

Despite the challenges, Laura said she remained confident.

“It wasn’t actually a big insecurity. I was a confident big person, it never bothered me,” she said. “I didn’t really have any medical issues. I just needed to stop eating.”

However, she said doctors repeatedly warned that her health was at risk. “Doctors said to me multiple times, ‘You will be dead by 30,’ “ Laura recalled. “They said the only thing I had on my side was my age.”

Still, she said the warnings failed to change her mindset. “It didn’t scare me,” she said. “I was so content in my life and no one around me really acknowledged my weight.”

Everything changed after Laura experienced a miscarriage at age 22. She said doctors told her weight could make it harder to have children — something she had always wanted.

“The real change for me was when I had the miscarriage, I’d always wanted a family,” she explained. “That was the moment where I thought, ‘I need to do something now.’ Everything else was just falling on deaf ears.”

Laura underwent gastric bypass surgery in October 2020. She said she lost 280 lbs. during the first year after the procedure before her weight loss slowed following the births of her two daughters.

She later began taking weight-loss injections and has now lost a total of 343 lbs., bringing her current weight to 182 lbs. and a size 10 in clothes.

Looking back, Laura said becoming a mother has been the greatest reward of her weight-loss journey.

“My best non-scale victory is obviously my children,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to have my children if I hadn’t lost the weight.”

“I want to be my healthiest for my children,” she added.

Laura, who plans to undergo skin removal surgery, hopes her experience encourages others to take the first step toward their own health goals.

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“My number one advice to other people would be ‘just start,’ “ she said. “I spent so long waiting for ‘Monday’ but if you have motivation, just do it.”

“It’s a bad day, not a bad life,” she continued. “Don’t listen to outside noise, you know your body and you know your struggle.”

“If you didn’t gain it in a day, you won’t lose it in a day, it takes time,” she added.

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