A super slimmer has opened up about how she felt forced into shedding 20 stone after being pelted with food in the street.
Harriet Peacock said she was taunted and even shoved over by fat-shaming strangers as her weight progressively spiralled out of control. The online tutor has now shed more than half of her body weight dropping from 33st 3lbs to just 13st 3lbs and dropping from a dress size 34 to a 16.
The 46-year-old said: “Being very overweight had a huge impact on my mental health. The fat-shaming I would endure was soul-destroying. One time a group of men pushed me over and to add to the humiliation, I couldn’t get back up.
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“Another time a milkshake was thrown at me in the street. These incidents just pushed me further towards my comfort – food.”
At her heaviest Harriet, from Bedford, weighed more than 33st and struggled to even put her own socks on. She has told how she gorged on crisps, loaves of bread and cake as she struggled with the stress of switching jobs from a school teacher to an online tutor, the Mirror Online reports.
Harriet said she would even buy takeaways and lie to people about what she’d had delivered because she was so embarrassed by the sheer volume of food. She said: “I used to order Chinese food, but lie and say I had friends round as I ordered so much, when really I was ordering it all for myself.”
Harriet’s health deteriorated and she couldn’t drive because she could not fit behind the wheel. She said: “I had been overweight my whole life, but things really ramped up when I made the switch from teaching in a school to becoming an online tutor. I became very withdrawn and only wanted to associate with people I trusted.
“I poured my heart and soul into my students, which often left me exhausted and reaching for the nearest takeaway when I finished work. I snored loudly and slept terribly, which only added to my tiredness.”
Harriet contacted her GP in a desperate cry for help but claims she was “looked up and down” and told to “exercise more and eat less”. It was not until her sister, Alison, 48, encouraged her to join Slimming World that Harriet found the courage to change her life forever.
Now instead of cakes and takeaways, she cooks baked feta pasta, salmon fillets or homemade curries. And she has been named Slimming World’s Greatest Loser, a competition that celebrates the success of the member with the biggest weight loss.
She said: “Joining Slimming World challenged me to start cooking more. I now love cooking so much.”
Typical before diet
Three supermarket sandwiches with crisps and chocolate bars. A tear-and-share cinnamon roll. Takeaway pizza or fish and chips. Crumpets with butter and honey.
After diet
Baked oats or porridge for breakfast with fruit or lean bacon medallions. Cajun salmon salad with a pitta bread for lunch or jacket potato and cheese. Moroccan lamb stuffed butternut squash for dinner or baked feta pasta.
