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Tuesday 2 April 2013

Obese American woman who founded nightclub for larger women has to leave... after losing a mighty 17 STONE


 A mother who founded the world's first nightclub specifically for larger women has stepped down as figurehead of the group after losing 17 stone, having been warned by doctors that the excess weight could leave her paralysed.
Shadoe Grey, 49, set up Club Curves in LA, California, seven years ago, when she weighed 25 stone. But when she dropped to just eight stone her frame no longer represented her company and she felt she had to step down.
The mother-of-one had previously loved her larger size - and admits receiving plenty of male attention - but when doctors warned that her health was in danger she decided to change her lifestyle.

Shadoe Grey at 260lbs, in 2005 in Long Beach, California
since having the op to lose weight she says she is no longer found attractive by men who prefer bigger women
Shadoe Grey, pictured at 280lbs in 2005 (right) and 112lbs today (right), opened the world's first big girls' club
'I want to help other people start their own clubs for big people because I will never stop feeling like a big girl'
'I want to help other people start their own clubs for big people because I will never stop feeling like a big girl'

But losing 17 stone after gastric surgery has, the blue-eyed blonde says, come at a price.
Not only is she celibate - the types men who used to be attracted to her having now lost interest - but she has also been bulled out of the club she founded, leaving her feeling 'outcaset from my own people'.
Shadoe said: 'I set up Club Curves after suffering fat discrimination - but when I lost weight I was bullied for being too thin.
'It's left me devastated - I'll never get stop feeling like an outcast from my own people. I've lost a lot of friends along the way because they couldn't accept that I'm not fat anymore.
'But even though I've been forced into the shadows, I'm still flying the flag for big women.'
In 1997 Shadoe (right) founded Club Curves and became a spokeswoman for larger ladies
In 1997 Shadoe (right) founded Club Curves and became a spokeswoman for larger ladies

Shadoe had been teased about being overweight since childhood, but by the time she hit her 20s she'd enough of being sidelined.
'I realised people were attracted to me in a physical way and that I had an attractive personality. Everything in life was good'
In 1997 she founded Club Curves and became a spokeswoman for larger ladies, with her message that size doesn't matter.
She said: 'I wanted to find a place where I could be looked at with desire. I became more successful as a businesswoman with the club and happier about my figure. 
'I realised people were attracted to me in a physical way and that I had an attractive personality. Everything in life was good.'
But with her new-found popularity, she was soon eating up to five thousand calories a day. 
Shadoe, 49, poses at a local park in Long Beach, California after losing 17 stone
Shadoe, 49, poses at a local park in Long Beach, California after losing 17 stone

She said: 'I was eating anything I could get my hands on - there was no off button.  I would go to the shop and buy 12 doughnuts, then eat half that day and half the next.
'My breakfasts were enough for three people and I would always but them at McDonalds.
'I couldn't even do simple things like cross my legs or tie my shoelaces. My doctor told me if I didn't do something I was going to lose the ability to walk'
'I'd snack all day on crisps, cookies and soda and then I'd have a fast-food dinner of hamburgers before a big dessert of cakes and cookies.'
Her weight rocketed to 25 stone and her health was in such she was told to slim down. But it presented her with a big dilemma.
She said: 'I was comfortable with my size emotionally but I had pain in my knees, asthma and I got a stress fracture in my lower back because of the weight.
'I couldn't even do simple things like cross my legs or tie my shoelaces. My doctor told me if I didn't do something I was going to lose the ability to walk.'
It was a very difficult decision to make
'I didn't want to go through with surgery because I knew I would face a lot of criticism'
'I didn't want to go through with surgery because I knew I would face a lot of criticism'

Although she had been approved for surgery ten years before, Shadoe was reluctant to lose weight. 
She said: 'I didn't want to go through with surgery because I knew I would face a lot of criticism.
'There I was telling people of the world to love the size they were and I was having weight-loss surgery. It was a very difficult decision to make.'
On a modest diet of whole wheat toast for breakfast, macaroni cheese for lunch and a small turkey taco for dinner she lost 12 stone in just one year
Shadoe had surgery in 2005 and was left only able to eat 150g of food at a time.
On a modest diet of whole wheat toast for breakfast, macaroni cheese for lunch and a small turkey taco for dinner she lost 12 stone in just one year.
However, she was later ousted from the business and no longer invited to speak on behalf of big women.
She said: 'My message was that size shouldn't matter but it's like Martin Luther King waking up one day and being white.
'You feel the same way and want them to listen but people said 'What the hell do you know?' I was a skinny white girl who looked like Barbie.'
And Shadoe's love life also took a turn for the worse. 
'I was constantly asked out when I was bigger but I've not been intimate with a man since my surgery'
'I was constantly asked out when I was bigger but I've not been intimate with a man since my surgery'
'I realise I can't be a figurehead for Club Curves but I have a wealth of knowledge about the way it works'
'I realise I can't be a figurehead for Club Curves but I have a wealth of knowledge about the way it works'

She said: 'I was constantly asked out when I was bigger but that stopped. I've not been intimate with a man since my surgery.'
After suffering the backlash from her clientele, Shadoe shut the club down for a year before opening it again without herself as the figurehead.
And her next venture is to help other people open their own big girls clubs. 
'I was constantly asked out when I was bigger but that stopped. I've not been intimate with a man since my surgery'
She said: 'I realise I can't be a figurehead for the club but I have a wealth of knowledge about the way this business works.
'I spent 20 years promoting the message of loving yourself no matter your size. I want to help other people start their own clubs for big people because I will never stop feeling like a big girl.' 
Shadoe insists she'll never gain weight again but admits she sometimes pines for the old days.
She said: 'When my gastric band makes me sick every day I wish I hadn't done the surgery. I miss the person I was.'
'It's very difficult being in plus-size promotions at my size. Now I'm just the lady running the club, now I'm the boss and people are respectful of me.
'Everything I do I did for those girls and changing their lives and if they wanted to have weight-loss surgery too I would support that.'
She added: 'As far as my love life goes I hope to meet someone in the future. I've been single for eight years now but I'm really trying to put myself out there and make more of an effort to meet people.'
Shadoe Gray, 48, poses with members of her club, (L-R) Brandy Naico, 30, Candy Dagio, 37 and Jessica Maloy, 27
Shadoe Gray, 48, poses with members of the club, (L-R) Brandy Naico, 30, Candy Dagio, 37 and Jessica Maloy, 27

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