Woman loses 40kg after being shamed at a funeral

A mother-of-four lost an incredible 38kg in under a year after being body-shamed at her mum’s funeral.

Paula Denyer, 47, weighed 120kg and wore a size 24 black dress to the ceremony in August 2017.

On what was already a difficult day, she was pulled aside by her godmother who asked: “Have you ever thought you’d look as good as your daughter if you only lost some weight?”

But instead of dwelling on the heartbreaking remark, Paula decided to turn her life around for the better.

A few months later, she started the 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan which helped her to lose a third of her body weight in Fless than 12 months.

The health kick meant making simple changes such as swapping sugary breakfast cereal for porridge and snacking on fruit instead of biscuits and crisps.

“I knew I needed to lose weight but my godmother's comment was a huge push for me to make a change,” Paula said.

Now, she weighs a much healthier 82kg and wears a dress size 16 - crediting her family for the success.

Prior to starting the diet, she sat down to talk with her four children and husband, Sam, about the weight loss journey.

“I couldn't have done it without the help of my family - I just simply had to explain to them why I wouldn't be eating the same meals as them and things,” she said.

“They would always ask how my weigh in had gone and left me notes around the house to congratulate me.”

Though the weight loss hasn’t just transformed her physical appearance, as her mental health has also significantly improved.

Once an outgoing and social person, Paula became a shell of her former self due to the weight gain.

“It was a vicious circle of over-eating, hating myself for gorging and then eating again to comfort my self-hatred and low self esteem - I was at an all-time low,” she admitted.

“I hid myself away, often refusing to attend social functions and covering my ever-growing figure with increased sized clothing.”

Since shedding the pounds, she’s finally been confident enough to enjoy summer holidays and family gatherings again.

“As soon as I dropped a dress size, people started to notice, and that just spurred me on even more,” she said.

“My smile was coming back and has stayed back ever since.”

With additional reporting by Danielle Fowler.

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