A woman was determined to lose weight after she was mooed at like a cow by cruel teenagers.
Danielle Dunstable was fat-shamed by strangers at Heathrow Airport before she flew out to Canada for her sister’s wedding.
She had already been apprehensive about the events as she weighed 17st at the time, which made her heavier than the other bridesmaids.
The 33-year-old told the Daily Record: “All my life I’ve always been the chubby one, and I already knew I was going to be by far the biggest of my sister Michelle’s bridesmaids.
“Then going through Heathrow I had two teenage boys who actually mooed at me like I was a cow.
“I looked around, hoping it wasn’t aimed at me, but I was the only person there.”
Danielle, from Thurso, Scotland, continued: “The terminal was empty apart from us, so there was no way I could pretend to myself it was for anybody else.
“It was just so cruel, especially because it wasn’t kids picking on kids, I was a grown woman.
“I was really upset but all it did was make me go to the shop, grab a whole bunch of rubbishy snacks, put them in my bag and then stuff my face on the flight.”
In fact, despite her airport fat shaming in 2018, Danielle’s weight carried on going up, reaching 17 stone 8lbs a year later.
It wasn’t until she was asked to be a bridesmaid again, this time by a friend in Canada, that she finally decided she needed to do something.
“That was it – I said yes, but this time I was determined not to be the big one again,” she said.
“Kelsey’s wedding was in October 2020 so in January 2020 after a year at Slimming World of yo-yoing and only managing to lose two pounds, I gave myself the wedding as my goal.
“I set myself a target to lose 5lb a month and I exceeded that so by Kelsey’s wedding date I was down about four stones. Because of Covid travel restrictions I wasn’t able to go but I still didn’t stop.
“I got to my target of 11stones 11lb in March this year, losing a total of 5st 11.5lb.”
Danielle learned to manage her sweet tooth and takeaway habit, which she’s battled with since she left high school.
She said: “I think lockdown, as hard as it was, gave me focus to stay on track and Slimming World totally changed my mindset.
“I still have a big appetite and I eat loads but now it’s all the right stuff and I can make my own pizza at home with my favourite mushroom, green pepper and broccoli topping instead of the greasy ones I used to have.”
At 5ft9in, dog walker Danielle is now a trim size 10, dropping down from a size 22 when she was at her heaviest.
At a target size 10, she doesn’t need to worry about being the big bridesmaid anymore. She has her own big day to look forward to.
Danielle said: “We’re getting married in Jamaica in spring 2023 and I’ve already got my dress.
“For my whole life I’d needed to lose weight so even when I was trying on wedding dresses I’d think, there’s no way that’s going to lift over my backside and then it would zip right up.
“That was just the best feeling.”
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