A RECLUSIVE single mum with ''no mates'' has finally found the confidence to make friends after dropping 12 stone.
Claire Ball, 36, barely left the house after gaining five stone in 2019 and tipped the scales at 21 stone and was a size 24 at her biggest.
Despite attempts to lose weight through various diet plans, Claire was ''addicted'' to cherry Pepsi Max and knew the people at her local chip shop on a first name basis.
She barely ever socialised and would eat a Dominoes pizza and a full tub of ice cream almost every night.
But after splashing out on a £3.2k trip to Turkey for weight loss surgery in October 2020, she dropped more than half her body weight.
The mum-of-two now weighs a healthy 8st 9lbs and is a slender size six.
Finally confident in her own skin, Claire started going out to local pubs and clubs - and quickly found herself with a new gaggle of pals.
Claire, from Ebbw Vale in south Wales, said: "I never really had many friends as I moved around a lot as a kid.
"I was a recluse, and would wear all black clothing and wore a huge green coat when I did go out.
"It was quite a hard transformation because food was all I looked forward to.
"Last year I went out one night to the club on my own and made a bunch of friends.
"I always thought I was pretty anti-social, but I'm actually very sociable.
"I'm always stopping to chat to people now, holding my head up high and having a conversation."
Despite being slim as a child, Claire found herself piling on the pounds when she left her ex-partner in 2017.
She would gorge on fast food whilst her daughters spent weekends with their dad.
After the relationship broke down, Claire began was prescribed anti-depressants by her GP and in just one year she piled on five stone.
The administrator stopped leaving the house and would devour sausage sandwiches, big bags of crisps and sweets, washed down with fizzy drinks.
She said: "I tried the keto diet and was joining Slimming World every two months but nothing worked.
''I loved Haribo sweets but my acne was really bad from it because of all the sugar.
"For dinner it would be a takeaway.
"Chinese was my favourite but I'd have to walk to pick it up and I'd be out of breath.
"So I'd order a large mighty meaty pizza from Domino's, some of the cookies they sell, and a full tub of Ben & Jerry's ice cream with a bottle of Pepsi Max.
"I'd be able to finish all of that in one night.
''I felt invisible, it was like I didn't exist.
''Even on the school run I always had headphones in and I would avoid conversation.''
After seeing an Instagram post about gastric bypass surgery, Claire started doing research of her own.
She had a call with a clinic in Irmet, Turkey, in September 2020 and booked a gastric bypass surgery for a few weeks later.
She said: ''I just used my savings I already had.
"I was excited to get there and get going.
"I was that low there were no negatives to it for me.
"I've had two c-sections and it was nothing like that.''
After five nights in hospital, Claire flew back to the UK to start her weight loss journey.
She cut out carbohydrates, chocolate and fizzy pop from her diet and quickly saw the weight dropping off.
After building up her confidence, Claire ventured out into town for a solo night out, where she mad firm friends with Shannon Jones, 23, and Karys Bailey, 30.
Claire said: "We just love the same music and dancing.
"I work all week, but at the weekends we'll go for some food and drinks, and then go to Pop World in Cardiff."
Claire now exercises three times and sticks to a protein heavy diet, swapping sweets for fish or chicken with salad.
"I'm so much more relaxed now, I was so uptight before because I was insecure,'' she said.
"The attention from men is different too.
"I've never had that before because I had always been invisible.
"I always make an effort every single day, because I'm just happy to be where I am now.
"None of this would have happened without me losing weight."
Follow Claire's incredible weight loss journey on her Instagram page @clairelaladiva.
Claire's diet before -
Breakfast - Two sausage sandwiches on white bread
Lunch - Nothing
Dinner - Large Domino's Mighty Meaty pizza, cookies, full tub of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, 1l bottle Coke Zero
Snacks - Big bag of crisps or Haribo's
Claire's diet now -
Breakfast - Bran Flakes with honey
Lunch - Chicken and Cheese salad
Dinner - Fish with peas
Snacks - Flamin' Cheetos or Jubbly ice lollies
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