A young woman has revealed how she lost 25kg and became a personal trainer after tipping the scales at 102kg and being called a ‘whale’ by bullies.
Annie Howland, from South Australia, had struggled with her weight since childhood and was eating 5,000 calories a day by the time she was 19 when she knew something had to change.
She claims that bullies used to call her “whale” as early as grade school, which eventually led to her binge eating in an attempt to seek solace.
Because of her height, Annie said she was often told she was “too fat” to be friends with certain people.
BEFORE AND AFTER: A young woman has revealed how she lost 25kg and became a personal trainer after tipping the scales at 102kg and being called a ‘whale’ by bullies
Annie Howland had struggled with her weight since childhood, eating 5,000 calories a day by the time she was 19 when she knew something had to change (pictured now)
In an effort to change her lifestyle, Annie decided to change her diet and exercise regimen, losing 25 kg in 12 months and weighing 77 kg.
Now Annie has taken to TikTok to share her story and transformation in an effort to help others, with 791,000 views and 47,000 likes.
“I used to get extremely nasty comments about my weight where people would call me a whale and say I was fat or obese,” Annie shared NeedToKnow.Online.
“I was told I was too fat to be friends with certain people and I couldn’t wear crop tops because I was too big.”
Annie said, “I remember a girl in elementary school telling me I was too fat to run the 100m sprint and ever since then I hated my body and how I felt too.
“I would cover myself in oversized clothes and I couldn’t stand looking at myself in the mirror. This is where my bad relationship with food started, when I started starving myself for as long as possible and then feasted on whatever I could find.”
She added, “I did it secretly in my room and felt so guilty – that’s when I knew something had to change.”
BEFORE AND AFTER: In an effort to change her lifestyle, Annie decided to change her diet and exercise regimen. She lost 25 kg in 12 months and weighed 77 kg
Annie (pictured now) has since become a personal trainer and her advice to anyone wanting to lose weight is to ‘just start’
When confronted with a photo of herself at a friend’s party, the 22-year-old said she was “mortified” and knew something had to change.
In 2018, Annie decided to review her unhealthy lifestyle – and at first she lost about 25 kg in a year.
But she said she didn’t take a healthy approach to the process, often exercising “excessively” and limiting herself to just 1,200 calories a day.
Then Annie started getting comments from others saying she looked “unhealthily skinny” and so decided to change her attitude in an effort to get stronger, while still losing weight.
Now a certified personal trainer, she’s starting to form a healthy relationship with food again, working out at the gym up to five times a week to lift weights.
To date, Annie has lost about 25 kg and now weighs 86 kg after gaining 8.5 kg in muscle mass.
BEFORE AND AFTER: She has now started lifting and says she works out several times a week, while following a balanced diet
She said, “I saw my body change for the better, as I started to build muscle and my body composition started to change.
“I look much healthier and stronger and I feel happy with the way I look now. Overall, I’m so proud of how far I’ve come.
Since then I have been able to continue building a healthy and strong body.
“It’s crazy to think I’m only about 10 lbs less than when I was overweight, but my body looks very different.”
She added; “It just goes to show that the scale means nothing and that being healthy isn’t on a certain number.”
Annie shared a photo of herself before losing weight with the caption, “To the girl who said I was too fat to be friends with her.”
“You look great, Queen,” one person commented.
Another said, “Imagine seeing them again, I’d be scared of them,” while a third added “insanely impressive.”
“Just get started – there’s always an excuse when you make one, but just starting means you’ve already changed something,” she said (pictured in the gym)
For others looking to lose weight, Annie said her advice is to just start.
“Just get started — there’s always an excuse when you make one, but just starting means you’ve already changed something,” she said.
“If you wait for the ‘perfect’ time to start, it will never happen.”