After being bullied for my weight my entire life I lost 12 stone in 20 months

A woman who says she has been bullied her entire life over her weight has shared how she lost 12st by overhauling her diet and cycling regularly. At her heaviest, Jennifer Wallin, 54, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, weighed 28st and wore a dress size 28.

Jennifer says she has been overweight since she was a toddler. "I can't think of a time in my life where I wasn't bullied for [my weight]," says Jennifer. "You're used as fair game and you feel like you have to take it because you're desperate for relationships and friendships."

She recalls one boyfriend continuously calling her "fat" and turning his chair to face away from her when watching TV and another occasion when she was verbally abused and spat at while riding her bike, just because of her size.

Fed up of being teased and ridiculed by so-called friends, work colleagues and even partners Jennifer decided to take action on Boxing Day 2022. She switched up her diet by swapping foods such as pies, cake, and chicken nuggets for wholewheat breads, proteins and salads.

The diet overhaul along with regular cycling trips led to a 12st (76kg) weight loss in just 20 months. Jennifer now wears a size 16 and weighs 15st 12.5lbs.

Another weight loss method Jennifer used was calorie counting. She used a tool called a TDEE calculator, to track what she was eating. "You put in your height, weight, age etc and it calculates what your maintenance calories are then you take 500 off that to give you your 'lose' calories," she explains.

According to the NHS, when we eat and drink more calories than we use, our bodies store the excess as body fat. If this continues over time, we may put on weight. Knowing the calorie content of food and drink – and how much we are consuming – makes it easier to keep track of our daily intake.

"I started losing weight because I wanted to lose a couple of stone to feel better but it came off quite easily, so I continued," Jennifer says. "Once I'd got it into my head that I wanted to lose weight the switching of the food came easy. The ultimate goal was in my head all the time. I've now lost 12st in 20 months - almost half my body weight."

Jennifer advises others on a weight loss quest to work out when you're going to consume more calories and plan for that in advance. "If you have an occasion coming up where you think you might eat more than usual plan for it by saving calories for it over a week beforehand," she says. "For example, I went for an afternoon tea for my daughter's birthday at the weekend so for a week before it I cut my calories down a bit more.

"When I'm faced with something that I know I shouldn't eat, I think of it as a crossroads - I can go down the road where I'm being bullied for my size or I can choose the other road where I'm happier with myself."

Jennifer's seen improvements to both her mental and physical health as a result of her new body.

"My weight loss was always about my mental health," she explains. "Sticking two fingers up to everyone who had bullied me in the past. I can go out now without being shouted at and ridiculed. I just can't believe how long I put up with it.

"I've got more energy and can now do a lot more walking and standing than I used to. I go to a lot of gigs and by the time the band came on I'd be in agony standing waiting for them.

"I'm also able to buy clothing from anywhere now instead of just online or specialist shops. Even my feet went down two sizes.

"I'm going to keep going for another month and then see where I'm at," Jennifer adds. "Then it's on to the maintenance tracking so I don't put the weight back on."

Jennifer's diet before:

Breakfast: Sweets, chocolate, biscuits, cakes

Lunch: Greggs pie and cake and a high calorie drink

Dinner: Big plate of chips and fish fingers or nuggets

Snacks: Whole packet of biscuits, crisps and a chocolate bar

Jennifer's diet now:

Breakfast: Wholemeal toast with low-fat butter

Lunch: A roll with tuna

Dinner: Not too many carbs, so maybe fish fingers with a salad or wholewheat pasta or mediterranean vegetables.

Snacks: Fat-free yoghurts

Additional reporting SWNS.

Read more about weight loss

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• Woman determined to be ‘fit at 30’ loses 4st in 4 months without restricting her diet (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)

• ‘I hid takeaway boxes from my husband, now I’ve lost 7 stone’ (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)