Obesity is a disease that has afflicted a lot of people. In fact, a majority of today’s youth are struggling with it. The problem is on the rise mostly because we’re consuming lots of processed foods and leading unhealthy lifestyles. The social discrimination, along with multiple health problems, often leads obese people towards depression. Plus, the ideal standards of beauty and an ardent desire for model-like figures have only added to people’s miseries. To add insult to injury, an obese person is often subjected to an insane amount of bullying, body shaming, taunting, etc. Just ask this McD’s employee.20-year-old Gemma Milton from Nottingham was taunted and called McFatty by many people she attended to at the fast food drive-thru. The name calling hurt her and caused immense frustration. “I was really embarrassed but it didn’t stop me from eating. Every shift I worked I had a McDonalds meal plus loads of sides and then I would get home and have my dinner,” stated Gemma.
“When I went to college I would eat anything and everything that I shouldn’t. On the way to the bus stop I would stop off and buy sweets and chocolate. My favorites were spearmint chews. I would buy them from the pound shop and eat two big bags a day. Then every night on my way home I would get a takeaway, usually a big portion of chips and family sized bag of chocolate,” Gemma explained. “I would dress like I was a 50-year-old woman to cover my bulging stomach, I wouldn’t even get ID’d in shops as I looked that old,” she continued.
Gemma hates shopping. However, she was once dragged out of her home to buy a Christmas party dress with other girls. She didn’t want anyone knowing her dress size, so she didn’t pick a dress. “I think a few of the girls started to realize what was happening so I grabbed a size 12 dinner gown off the rail and went into the changing rooms but when the shop assistants realized what size I had picked up they laughed at me,” said Gemma. She was denied access to the fitting room and that was the last straw!
She had started dieting with the help of a Cambridge weight plan, and ditched junk and sugary foods. “Thankfully, after losing six stone I’ve finally gotten my confidence back and I even went back to buy the dress that I couldn’t fit into before,” said Milton, who now wears a 10-12 size, which is exactly half of what she used to put on.
At first, she didn’t believe the diet would work. It was only in April of 2016 that Gemma decided to give it a try. “It was very daunting at first but once I got into the swing of things it became a lot easier to stick to and I have since lost six stone,” told Gemma. The confidence gave her a nudge in the direction of becoming a hairdresser, her dream profession, and is also determined to lose even more weight.
