A student from Leeds was inspired to turn her life round, losing a third of her body weight after seeing pictures of herself at her 18th birthday party.
At her heaviest Jess Emmett weighed 21 stone (133kg) and her size had such an impact on her everyday life – and self-esteem – that she would often cancel plans to socialise.
At school she would even hide in the toilets in order to get out of doing PE.
Jess told UNILAD she used to hide from the camera and and would refuse to have her picture taken with her friends.
She said:
To see my 18th birthday pictures was me facing the damage I’d caused to my body, although it took me six months to even look at those photos anyway.
She told us she felt depressed while she was overweight and was isolated from others, including her family.
She said her night life still isn’t fully recovered because of how much she used to weigh.
Jess’s own self-consciousness made her feel as though she was drawing attention to herself just by going out with her friends.
She said:
I felt like my weight was ironically weighing me down stopping every little thing I did.
I’d get back ache and things like that and honestly just thought it was normal to feel that way, stuck in the same negative cycle.
Since the photos prompted Jess to turn her life around, she’s altered her diet and now regularly hits the gym at Xercise4Less.
She’s lost an impressive seven stone (45kg), and now has hopes to work as a personal trainer.
She has set up an Instagram account to mark her progress and says she feels like a completely different person.
She said:
I feel more confident, and my confidence has come without me even noticing.
I feel so happy and ready to go out and do things, explore and make memories, trying to make up for the time I’ve lost.
She recalled how her shopping habits have changed, from ‘huge long t-shirts’ to more fitted clothing, from leggings to jeans.
But most importantly, she says she is so much happier since she started on her journey.
She said:
I thought I was the happiest I could be but once I saw myself physically change, I started to change for the better from the inside out.
But her journey isn’t over just yet. Jess has plans to lose three more stone, and wants to use her experience to help work on tackling childhood obesity.
Congratulations to Jess, and we wish her the best of luck with everything she wants to achieve.
