I moved to the most magical village in Britain and packed the body of my dreams
SCROLL eBay Sunita Inderjeet, 49, searches for the perfect witch costume and completes her look with a pointed hat and a broomstick.
And while Sunita may seem like millions of other Brits preparing to celebrate all things spooky on October 31 this year, Halloween has extra special meaning for the former sports club manager.
Sunita lives in Canewdon, near Southend On Sea, known as the witches’ village of Britain. A small community has traditionally been home to witchcraft, witch circles and mysterious happenings.
And she credits ‘mystical magic’ and the Canewdon witches for helping her and four other locals lose a whopping 36 stone.
“Before I moved here, I almost ate myself to death,” Sunita tells Fabulous.
“I was so overweight that I could barely walk to the toilet and even getting up from my chair was difficult.
“I was so overweight that the fat was severely compressing my vital organs.
“But moving to Britain’s witch village changed my life.”
But Sunita, who has now lost nine stone, says she is not the only one benefiting from the city’s magic.
“My neighbor Louise Waller has lost eight stone,” she says.
“Three other village friends have lost twenty stones together. That’s no coincidence, it’s good witch magic.
“If I hadn’t moved here, I would be dead.
“This Halloween, I’m celebrating my magical weight loss, new life and paying tribute to the village’s spooky history.”
At 45, a former sports club manager, Sunita was ranked 24th and was a size 26.
“I’m only five feet tall and at my heaviest weight I had a BMI of 54, making me morbidly obese,” she says.
“In my teenage years I was of normal build and sporty and when I left home I worked at a sports club and enjoyed cooking for myself and eating healthy.
“In my 30s I started gaining weight because of my love of takeaways and sweets.”
Sunita admits that she consistently put off dieting and didn’t see her weight gain as a problem, weighing 18st in 2018.
“Then in 2019, my best friend died of cervical cancer at the age of 34. I was devastated, it destroyed me,” she admits.
“In October 2020, single Sunita wanted a fresh start and moved to Canewdon.
“Everyone was so friendly and I loved all the stories about the village and its witchy history.
“It’s a tourist attraction for witchcraft history buffs and I’m a history buff.”
However, when the lockdown hit, Sunita was unable to work due to Covid.
“I was eating leisurely all the time and my mental health was declining,” she admits.
“I was struck by anxiety and depression.
“I ate huge plates of fried chicken and rice and downed 24 mini chocolate bars in one sitting. Chocolate and sugary foods made me feel better.
“I piled on the pounds and didn’t exercise. But instead of soothing my fear and sadness, it caused me physical pain and suffering.
“I would sweat when I walked to the kitchen. I was out of breath as I took clothes out of the dryer and both knees were close to buckling due to my massive weight gain.
“Getting up from the couch took an hour of agonizing pain. I could barely breathe or walk.
Louise and I testify to the fact that Britain’s witch village is full of good spirits and spells
Sunita Inderjeet
“I was 48 years old and walked on a cane and could not walk on my own garden path.
“I ate myself to death.”
When Sunita moved in, her neighbor Louise Waller, now 34, introduced herself and the pair became friends.
“Louise came over to say hello and check on me during lockdown. That would never happen in London,” says Sunita.
Louise, a former office worker, became concerned about Sunita’s weight gain.
“I knew she was going through it,” Lousie says.
How to lose weight without surgery
There are several other ways to lose weight without going under the knife.
According to the NHS, there are seven steps you need to follow to get the best possible start to your weight loss plan.
- Be active for 150 minutes a week – you can break this up into shorter sessions
- Aim to get your 5 a day – 80g of fresh, canned or frozen fruit or vegetables count as 1 serving
- Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds, or 0.5 to 1 kg, per week
- Read food labels – products with more green color coding than amber and red are often a healthier option
- Replace sugary drinks with water. If you don’t like the taste, you can add slices of lemon or lime for flavor
- Cut down on foods that are high in sugar and fat – start by replacing sugary breakfast cereals with whole grain alternatives
- Share your weight loss plan with someone you trust; they can help motivate you when you’re having a bad day
“In 2016 I was a size 26 and weighed almost 19 stone, I had a BMI of 49 and I was told if I didn’t lose weight I would die.
“Being overweight also caused fertility problems. I had been trying to get pregnant for ten years, but nothing had happened.
“My father passed away in 2017 and I was devastated. He left me some money and made me promise to do something life-changing with it.”
Louise spent £3,000 to have a gastric sleeve made, which meant 90 percent of her stomach was removed in Turkey.
“I did not examine the clinic, and after the operation I developed a blood clot,” she says.
“I spent ten days in intensive care in a Turkish hospital, got double pneumonia and almost died from an infection.
‘I think the witches of Canewdon were watching over me. If they hadn’t done that, I would have died on the operating table.”
Despite her brush with death, Louise lost eight stone.
“As I lost weight, I started exercising more and enjoyed a sense of freedom that I had never experienced before,” she says.
“I met a new partner and became pregnant almost immediately thanks to my weight loss.
We like to joke about how everyone we know has lost a large amount of weight thanks to the white witch’s spells
Sunita
“Now I am a proud and healthy mother of a 16-month-old son and a three-month-old daughter.
“When I saw Sunita suffering, I knew I had to help her regain her health.
“I encouraged Sunita to seek medical help.”
However, Sunita’s NHS consultant refused her requests for weight loss surgery, saying she was too big for the procedure and there was a risk she would not survive it.
“That made me take action,” says Sunita.
“Louise helped me start a weight loss shake diet and in three months I managed to lose two kilos.
“That two stone weight loss meant I could walk from my bedroom to the kitchen without losing my breath.
“To the average person it may seem like such a short distance, but for me it was like running a marathon.
“I started walking around my house, then my garden and then to some local witches’ spots and I lost some more weight.”
Sunita’s parents were so concerned that her father offered to pay for a private weight loss procedure in Britain.
By September 2022, Sunita had lost enough weight to undergo a £9,000 stomach operation at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford Essex.
“I was told I was less likely to die during the procedure and I knew I had to take the risk,” she says.
“If I didn’t have the surgery, I knew I would die within five years due to my obesity.”
After the operation, Sunita lost almost another seven stone, taking her total to nine stone and going from a size 26 to a size 18.
“I have lost the equivalent of the weight of a baby rhino or 135 soup cans. I can’t believe it,” she says.
“I practice by walking around the village and visiting the different places related to its eerie history.
“I can only eat a thumb-sized portion of food per meal. I still need to lose three stone to reach my target of 13 stone.
“I will need reconstructive surgery on both my knees. Every day I do chair yoga, walk through my garden and Louise inspires me to go further every day.
“The operation gave me my life back. It has played a key role in dealing with my anxiety and depression.”
Sunita and Louise have lost seventeen stone and a further three friends in the village have lost a further twenty stone on their weight loss journey using exercise, simple diets and weight loss injectables.
“Everyone in our small community has lost weight to live longer and make critical changes to their lives, whether that’s living a healthier life or having children,” says Sunita.
“Everyone knows everyone, and we all share exercise tips and inspire each other. I couldn’t have achieved my weight loss without the support of the village.
‘Louise and I bear witness to the fact that Britain’s witch village is full of good spirits and spells.
“We like to joke about how everyone we know has lost a lot of weight thanks to the white witch’s spells.
“For the first time in a decade, I don’t have to worry about going to bed and having my lungs or heart crushed by my morbidly obese body.
“I can see into the future. I couldn’t have done this without the friends I made in the witch village.”