'Get Down to the Gym, Fatty': Mother Sheds Six Stone in Time for Wedding After Stranger's Insult in Nightclub
A cruel remark from a stranger in a nightclub became the unlikely trigger for a transformation. Sarah Gould, a 26-year-old mother of two from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, had been standing at the bar in 2010 when a man approached her and said: "You should get down the gym fatty." She left the club in tears that night — and decided everything would change.
At the time she weighed about 18 stone, having peaked above 20 stone. She had been teased about her weight at school and by an ex-boyfriend; this time, the taunt landed differently. "I should thank that guy that made that comment even if he is an idiot," she said later. "He wouldn't recognise me now."
Her method was refreshingly unglamorous: walking. She began walking three to four miles a day — up to 25 miles a week — and cut out all unnecessary car journeys, walking over a mile to a supermarket rather than driving to the corner shop. Three takeaways a week and biscuit snacking gave way to Ryvita and fruit lunches with a larger healthy evening meal, treats allowed once a week. She refused to call it a diet.
By February 2012 she had gone from 18 stone in January 2011 to 11 stone 13 lbs, dropping from a size 22 to a size 12 — just in time for her July wedding to her partner Paulo, 39, and their honeymoon in Tunisia. She turned the routine into something social, launching "Walk and Talk" classes: two-to-three-mile group strolls followed by a weigh-in and a nutrition chat, drawing over 30 people a week.
The former receptionist and customer services executive says she now wants to retrain as a fitness instructor. "I just want to inspire others who have felt as low as I did."
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Significant weight loss should be undertaken with professional guidance, especially when young children are in the picture.
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