The scent of barbecue smoke filled the garden as Genna Shepley rushed about ensuring her little boy’s first birthday party was a success.
Friends and family were chatting happily, then someone suggested a family photo.
So Genna proudly posed with her partner, Jason, and their son, Houston.
Later, she settled on the sofa and started scrolling through all the pictures on her phone. But when she saw their family snap, she froze.
‘I just couldn’t believe it was me,’ she says. ‘I looked huge. Everyone else said it was a lovely photo but it was a massive wake-up call.’
The 35-year-old mum of two weighed 22st 7lb, having struggled with her weight for as long as she could remember.
She admits her weaknesses were crisps, chocolate and takeaways, and over the years she had tried every diet imaginable.
‘I’ve done them all,’ she says. ‘Slimming World, calorie counting, keto, juice cleanses. I’d lose a bit, then regain it.’
The 35-year-old mum of two weighed 22st 7lb, saying she has struggled with her weight for as long as she could remember
Genna, pictured after her body transformation, admits her weaknesses were crisps, chocolate and takeaways, and over the years she had tried every diet imaginable
Even exercise couldn’t keep the weight off for long.
‘I joined the gym and did Zumba. I actually lost 4st in six months, but then the instructor got ill and the classes stopped, so the weight piled back on.’
Having Houston meant her size crept up even more.
‘I had my own business and was a busy new mum,’ she says. ‘By the time I got home from work, the last thing I wanted to do was cook a fresh meal. My health started to deteriorate hugely.’
One day, Genna even thought she was having a stroke.
‘I suddenly lost feeling down the left side of my body,’ she says. ‘It was really scary. I was numb and I had to drag my leg behind me.
‘My son was only six weeks old and I couldn’t bend over his cot to pick him up.’
Thankfully, her symptoms improved enough for her to be able to function again, although doctors never diagnosed the underlying cause.
But it wasn’t until she saw the birthday party photo that she decided enough was enough.
‘I’d always told myself that if I reached 30 and still wasn’t where I wanted to be weight-wise, I’d take drastic measures if I had to. I was more than ready.’
Genna underwent a gastric sleeve operation, in which around 85 per cent of the stomach is removed, but it left her with 2st of excess skin
In September 2022 Genna underwent a lower tummy tuck, arm lift and back and front liposuction to remove the excess skin
A friend of Genna’s had undergone a gastric sleeve operation, in which around 85 per cent of the stomach was removed.
‘She said the sleeve was the best thing she’d ever done,’ Genna recalls. ‘That was it for me. I couldn’t live like that anymore. I wanted to be around for my son, to actually be able to run after him.’
In April 2021, Genna travelled to Turkey for a gastric sleeve operation, for which she paid £4,500, including the removal of her gallbladder after discovering a gallstone the size of the organ itself.
‘I’d been prepared to have it done in the UK, but I spoke to someone who’d paid £10,000 here and had nothing but problems afterwards.
‘So I found a UK-based company that worked with Turkish clinics and it just felt right.’
Afterwards, Genna admits the recovery was intense.
‘The sickness and gas pain were pretty bad,’ she says. ‘I tried to walk as much as possible to relieve it.
‘But after a week I was already a stone down, and I could see the difference in my face. It felt amazing to see progress so quickly.’
Over the next 18 months, Genna’s diet changed completely and she lost 8st. Her health problems disappeared too.
‘The numbness and pain on my left side vanished completely,’ she says. ‘Whatever caused the stroke-like symptoms was clearly linked to my weight.’
She adds: ‘After having the sleeve, I could only eat tiny portions. Even my toddler son was eating more than me.
‘Now I have a high-protein diet with hardly any carbs, lots of omelettes and shakes. I still have cheat days, but the sleeve stops you overeating.’
‘The sickness and gas pain were pretty bad,’ Genna says. ‘I tried to walk as much as possible to relieve it’
For the first time, Genna was delighted when she looked in the mirror.
But she still didn’t feel entirely comfortable in her own skin – literally.
As the weight dropped off it became clear that she’d been left with an unsightly excess of loose skin.
‘It wasn’t until I’d lost about six or seven stone that it became a big problem,’ she explains.
‘I’d always carried my weight on my stomach, while having toned legs, so that was where it hung.
‘It was like an apron of skin, and even when being clever with clothes and tucking it in, you could see it.
‘I also had it quite badly on my arms. It really knocked my confidence and, in a way, it felt like all the weight loss was for nothing.’
And it wasn’t just affecting Genna mentally. No matter how hard she tried to keep it clean her skin would get sore in between the folds.
Again, Genna chose a Turkish clinic for her skin removal surgery.
‘I knew other people who had used this clinic and were happy with their results. Plus it was priced far more reasonably than the UK.
‘A clinic in Harley Street wanted to charge me £15,000 to 16,000, but it cost just £4,000 in Turkey.’
In September 2022, Genna underwent a lower tummy tuck, arm lift and back and front liposuction.
Surgeons removed a staggering two stone of skin during the operation – a figure Genna admits was a shock. ‘I thought, how can that amount of skin have been cut off me and I’m still okay.’
She says that while she was back at work in her job as a freelance make-up artist, just two weeks after surgery, the recovery process was long and tough.
‘I had to wear a compression garment after my tummy tuck, so I had constant pressure on my abdomen, helping to reduce swelling’, explains Genna, pictured in 2022 after the tummy tuck
‘I could use my arms as normal, but I’d had an incision from hip to hip, plus my belly button removed and reattached, and I needed lots of antibiotics to prevent an infection.
‘I also had to wear a compression garment after my tummy tuck, so I had constant pressure on my abdomen, helping to reduce swelling and drain away the excess fluid that can build up after surgery. It helped a lot and I occasionally still wear it now. It took one and half to two years to fully recover but seeing the results made it all worthwhile.’
In particular, there was one moment Genna will never forget.
‘I’ve always loved fashion, but jeans were something I’d never been able to wear comfortably because of the excess skin on my tummy,’ she says.
‘It became my ultimate goal to buy a pair, put them on and actually feel good. When I finally did slip on a simple pair of ripped Primark jeans and didn’t have to tuck in any skin, I nearly cried. It was incredible.’
Now, after losing 10st in total, Genna weighs a healthy 11st 7lbs and has gone from a dress size 26 or 28 to a 14 or 16. Her partner Jason Green, 42, a van driver, who lives with her in West Yorkshire, has been supportive throughout.
‘He’s seen the highs and lows,’ she says. ‘He’s proud of me for doing it for myself and for our family.’
Their son Houston, now six, has since been joined by his little brother Omari, two.
Now, after losing 10st in total, Genna weighs a healthy 11st 7lbs and has gone from a dress size 26 or 28 to a 14 or 16
‘I did all this so I could be a better mum,’ Genna says. ‘I wanted to be able to play with them and not feel constantly exhausted or in pain.’
Before her weight loss, Genna was an active voice in the plus-size community online, promoting body confidence.
Bullied all through primary and secondary school, she was also trolled on social media for being overweight.
‘I was called all the usual names at school, like fatty and piggy, and I would end up skipping school just to escape it.
‘Online I received comments like “who ate all the pie” and “leave off the cream buns”.
‘Whatever people said to me, I still felt I rocked being a big girl though and have always been passionate about body positivity.’
Genna, an influencer and founder of her own cosmetics line, Genna Tutorials Collection, is honest about how her size and body have changed with her huge following on social media, where she reaches over 300,000 users.
‘Everybody is worthy,’ she says. ‘But I believe in doing what’s best for your health. Losing weight doesn’t mean I’ve turned my back on body positivity. It means I’ve chosen to love myself enough to take control.’
Looking back at that birthday photo now, Genna says she barely recognises the woman in it.
‘I was trapped in a body that didn’t feel like mine,’ she says. ‘Now, when I look in the mirror, I see the person I was always meant to be.’
- See Genna on TikTok at @gennatutorials
