When Emma Brophy was on the Sunday Grill six years ago she had lost over twelve stone.
Emma started her weight loss journey at 24 stone and had lost over half her body weight.
She remembers the moment she decided to lose weight well: “I was sitting on the sofa, eating a takeaway and watching a programme that showed an internal scan of a person that was overweight, the visceral fat on their body and the effect that had on her body and thought ‘I need to get healthy’.''
The Wexford woman lost the weight over time and at one point reached twelve stone- she looked great, but internally she says she felt totally different.
“I hated my body,” she remembers, “I felt like I wasn’t small enough… I felt like clothes didn’t fit properly, I was going for tummy tuck surgery, I wanted to have breast augmentation… I just wanted more and more and more.”
Emma says it became more about how she looked rather than her health.
“When I came onto that radio interview [on the Sunday Grill six years] no one but Orla was going to see me but I wanted to turn up and make sure I looked my smallest. I lost the fact that it was about my health and it became more about what I looked like."
Since we talked to Emma six years ago, her weight has crept back on, she started dating her now husband and has suffered with depression in pregnancy.
“Throughout the pregnancy, I was putting on weight and fell back into the cycle of overeating and less exercise and slowly I have regained the weight and I’m back at 24 stone”
Emma admits to being ashamed of her weight gain to begin with but now she realises that health is not about how your clothes fit or how you look. It’s about not stopping yourself doing things because of your size.
“My goal this time is not to lose five pounds a week or to keep track of my weight… my goal is to feel healthier mentally and physically and weight loss should be a byproduct of that”.
Emma will feature on the Sunday Grill’s Diet Culture Special this weekend from 10am.
You can check out Emma’s Facebook page here.
