Mum loses half her body weight after being fat shamed by son

A mum has lost almost half of her body weight after being fat shamed by her son and realising she had to make dramatic changes to her relationship with food.

Schauna Harshman revealed she always felt like she was the “fat and ugly friend” growing up through school, and once she fell pregnant she continued to pile on the weight.

The 35-year-old from North Dakota, US, gained 26 kg during her first pregnany and by the time she had her third child was tipping the scales at 133kg wearing a size 28 in clothes.

“I got pregnant at 18 and used that as an excuse to eat and drink whatever I wanted. I gained more than four stone during my first pregnancy. From there I just kept gaining weight with each child,” Schauna said, adding her diet largely consisted of fried food, processed meals, fast food, and pasta.

“I was making quick and easy processed meals. I was very uneducated about nutrition as I’d grown up eating meat and potatoes, with a lot of canned foods. I never ate anything fresh or homemade, so I carried that on as a mother.”

When her middle son Chase was three years old, he started mocking Schauna by calling her fat, which she admits felt like ‘rock bottom’ for her and pushed her to see that she needed to improve her lifestyle.

“One day, my middle son was making fun of me, calling me fat and laughing about it. I was fed up of my weight but to hear my son, who loves me, make fun of me that way, I’d had enough. That was my rock bottom” she said.

“I was angry and emotional. Of course, he had no idea the impact it had on me as he was only three. I remember locking myself in the bathroom and crying. Asking myself how I was going to fix the problem.

“I told him that it’s not funny to call people fat and laugh about it. He could see I was really upset and he felt sad when he saw I was crying.”

She began researching weight loss surgeries and she decided to have a lap band inserted – a band placed around the top of the stomach to create a smaller stomach. In March 2013 she went ahead with surgery and has been amazed at the results since.

“I set up a consultation with a bariatric surgeon and we went over the options. I had to do a visit with a personal trainer to learn how working out is important,” she said, explaining how she started going to the gym one month after having the surgery.

“I also had to prove that I could lose some weight before my surgery, which I did! I was 107kg when I went for surgery,” she added.

After the surgery and through working out at the gym she managed to lose a huge 30kg before also addressing her overall diet and turning to Keto to lose the last little bit.

By focusing on low-carb foods and counting her macros, Schauna is now a healthy 71kg and a size 12.

“Through keto I learned that it’s about maintaining a lifestyle rather than constantly shedding, so I switched to macro counting, which is what I’m currently doing and I feel amazing,” she said, deciding to start sharing her journey on Instagram @lowcarb.godess.

“My friends and family are so proud of me and I’m so thankful for their support. It’s given me a real drive to keep going and to show people that you can do anything you put your mind to.

“I’m a mum of three so I’m constantly running around after my sons, I work full time and still manage to track my food, eat homemade meals and work out every day. Anyone who sees that I can do it can know that they can too.”

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