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Dance, fat girl, Dance!

I did- and dropped six sizes plus 9st!


Published by: Hannah Furness and Jean Jollands
Published on: 6 October 2011

All eyes were on Dame Kitty as she twirled about the stage at Rubyz cabaret club in Bournemouth. I was enjoying a night out with my sister Jo.
Sure, Kitty's real name was Dave, but this drag act could have knocked the stockings off the real women there with the way she sexily strutted her stuff.
‘Wow!' I grinned to Jo, 34, as the audience applauded. ‘Imagine having the confidence to get up in front of all those people.'
We'd been pals with Dame Kitty since meeting at Jo's hen night.
‘Hello darling,' she purred. ‘You look gorgeous!'
‘Yeah, right!' I grinned, sheepishly. Who was gorgeous at size 24? Certainly not me.
At 16, when I'd met my hubby Mike, 37, I'd been 9st 7lbs and a svelte size 10.
But, as we settled into cosy coupledom, I'd started snacking and serving up creamy curries for romantic nights in. By the time we got hitched, I'd ballooned to a size 20!
When the kids had come along - Kieran, seven, and Megan, three - I hadn't been able to shift the baby weight and was a size 24. I polished off the kids' leftovers and couldn't even bear to have scales in the house.
‘Come here, sexy,' Mike, a shop manager, would purr, cuddling me. He loved me whatever size. But I hated anyone looking at me.
‘I just can't stick to a diet,' I sighed to my mate Jean one evening after work as a carer for disabled kids.
‘Tell me about it!' she said. A big girl herself, we were forever bemoaning our lot.
‘I got sent this today,' she said, scooping up a Weight Watchers leaflet from the coffee table. ‘Why don't we give it a go?'
I sighed. I'd failed so many times before - but maybe having a mate along might be the kick up the bum I needed...
At the first meeting in March 2009, I stepped on to the scales... ‘No!' I gasped. ‘18st 4lbs!'
How had I let myself go so badly?
I knew I had to change once and for all. I swapped chocolate for fruit and veg, trimmed my portions and lost 3½lbs in a week! Maybe this time would be different.
Then Dame Kitty invited me to try a burlesque class.
‘Burlesque is about the art of the tease,' she explained. ‘It's not about stripping, but learning to be sexy in your own skin.'
‘People will laugh at me,' I protested to her.
‘No they won't. Give it a go, for me.' She'd made me smile in the past, perhaps I owed her...
Caving in, I signed up to the five-week course. But at the first class, I was terrified - I was the biggest woman in the group!
Still, everyone was so encouraging. ‘It'll be fun,' one lady grinned, seeing my nerves.
Clumsily, I tried to follow the instructor's moves. ‘Now turn and look seductively over your left shoulder,' she trilled. ‘Seduce your audience!' I spun around, nearly went flying... and burst into giggles.
It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought... until the instructor made an announcement.
‘At the end of the course, you'll perform in front of an audience here at the club,' she grinned.
‘What?' I gulped. Dame Kitty hadn't mentioned that! But there was no getting out of it now!
Despite the looming deadline of the show, I found myself enjoying each session more and more.
As we gyrated our hips and learned how to slip off elbow-length gloves, I didn't feel stupid, I felt sensual, confident... and lighter! After a few weeks of dancing and healthy eating, I'd dropped more than a stone, and now wore a dress size 22!
‘I can't wait to see you on stage,' Mike smiled as I ran through my routine in the kitchen.
‘Thanks, love,' I grinned. I felt more attractive than ever!
But on the night of the show, as the audience packed the club, I was a nervous wreck.
A dressmaker had designed me some silky bloomers to fit my now 16st 7lb frame and 48in waist. I'd wedged my belly and 42FF cleavage into a black corset sprinkled with diamante. I shook with nerves, though. Then I spotted my nan, Mum and Mike in their seats - and was terrified. How could I show off all this flab?
‘You can do it,' one of the girls whispered, squeezing my arm. ‘We're all here with you.'
Dame Kitty wiggled on stage and introduced us, then the strains of Shirley's Bassey's Hey Big Spender filled the air.
I forced myself to strut out on stage with the girls.
Adrenaline kicked in as I began a saucy shimmy. My heart was still thumping - but with excitement now, not nerves. Seductively slipping off my gloves, I felt like
a million dollars.
By the time we got through our three numbers, the crowd were on their feet.
‘You were sensational,' Mike whooped - and I was hooked!
I signed up to another burlesque course, and the weight dropped off. After a year of burlesque dancing, I'd dropped to 10st 8lb.
And now, 18 months on from that, I'm 9st 7lb and a size eight. Yes, I've lost a massive 8st 11lb - that's another person!
I've since done six burlesque courses, with a show at the end of each one. I'm so confident now and love skinny jeans and slinky tops - and I even run my own Weight Watchers classes.
I'm half the woman I was, but twice as happy thanks to burlesque.
Karen Nisbet, 31, Poole, Dorset