A mom who piled on the pounds after childcare and grocery costs left her "unable to afford healthy food" had a 'divorce glow up' and lost 120lbs."

Jess Grangier, 40, weighed 255lbs and was a size 3XL at her heaviest.

The mom-of-one struggled with post-partum anxiety and found the medication she was put on to help ease it caused her to pile on the weight.

Jess was also living in the Hamptons, New York, and found the high cost of food and childcare in her area meant she could only afford unhealthy snacks such as sweets and doughnuts.

But when her five-year marriage fell apart, she moved back to Salisbury, Maryland, and was able to invest in herself - joining a gym and cooking healthy home-cooked meals.

Now she is a slender 135lbs and a size six to eight and has gone on to find love again with Kurt Berner, 38, who works for a water treating facility.

Jess, who works in marketing, from Salisbury, Maryland, said: "Food was so overpriced."

"A lobster at the market was $150. "

"Everything in the Hamptons is just catered to the ultra wealthy. Take anything what it is normally and you can probably 4x and they would be the cost. "

"Childcare was about $2,250 a month for three and a half days. "

"The cost of living is just so absorbent there isn't a lot left over for healthy options - food, gyms or dietitians."

"It's changed my life. I had a divorce glow up."

I had the mental headspace to focus on myself.

"I'm in a better place."

Jess says she had always been a "thicker girl" but gained weight when she had her son, now eight, and struggled to shift it when she was put on medication to help with her postpartum anxiety."

She claims she couldn't afford "fresh" food as she was forking out $3,200 a month on rent and $2,250 on childcare for three-and-a-half days."

Instead she would reach for easy meal-kits, pick at her son's leftovers and scoff quick lunches such as crisps and sweets.

The financial worries put a strain on Jess and made it hard to have any leftover money to put into her own health.



She said: "I ate my feelings."

Jess decided to go for a gastric sleeve surgery in August 2019 - which she got on her health insurance - as she felt it was "the only option" to help her lose the weight."

It saw her drop to 180lbs.

But when her marriage broke down in November 2019 she moved back home in the fall of 2020 and had more time to invest in herself.

Jess said: "We grew into different people. We weren't right for each other."

"I had that mental break to unpack the baggage."

Jess found it easier to cook for just herself and her son - or join in with family meals - and found the price of fruit and vegetables was cheaper in her new area.

She said: "It was a lower cost of living."

She found herself grabbing peaches or apples to snack on instead of crisps.

Jess also joined a gym - something she couldn't afford in New York - and went four times a week for two-and-a-half hour sessions.

She could also bring her son along with her - as they offered childcare.

Jess said: "I started off easy on the treadmill."

"A year after I moved back I could afford a personal trainer."

Now Jess has hit a healthy weight she doesn't hit the gym as much but has an active lifestyle outside with her little boy.

She doesn't "diet" but finds she can afford healthy, balanced options and will cook homemade pesto with chicken and meal prep her lunches."

Jess said: "I try to pick better options."

After focusing on herself, Jess met her now partner, Kurt, in October 2022.

She said: "I have a partner who is incredible."

"He fills my cup."

Before weight: 255lbs
After weight: 135lbs

Before diet:
Breakfast: Cereal, frozen waffles
Lunch: Sandwiches and crisps
Dinner: Pasta/ hamburger
Snacks: Sweets, mini doughnuts

After diet:
Breakfast: Yoghurt, coffee
Lunch: Salad
Dinner: Fresh pesto chicken
Snacks: Dried fruit