An NHS worker has shared how she dropped over four stone in nine months after comfort eating to cope with stress saw her weight balloon.
Twenty-six-year-old Emily Robinson has battled with her body image for years.
Working on covid wards, she began steadily gaining weight after finding herself eating more during long shifts.
Food also became a way for the trainer nursing associate from Newcastle upon Tyne to deal with her emotions.
She’s now transformed her body, candidly sharing her experience on TikTok with her 7,000 followers.
While she feels healthier since losing weight, she highlights how a constant “obsession” with scales and taking progress photos left her feeling deflated during her fitness journey.
At her heaviest, she weight 18st 2lb and now is down to 13st 12lb.
“I think food was a comfort when I was going home and not knowing how to manage my feelings around the day I’d had at work,” Emily told Need To Know.
“I think I just spiralled out of control with binge eating to hide my emotions and feelings, or somewhat validate them.
“I remember eating food during work as we got given lots of cakes, sweets etc from patients’ families as a thank you, which is always so lovely but it doesn’t help the waistline!
“Aside [from] work, I hated being in public and dreaded looking in mirrors – I remember feeling disgusted with the way I looked.
“Not many people will think this of me as I always came across quite bubbly and happy, but I was really self-conscious about being in bigger scrub sizes at work.
“I went from being in size large scrubs to begin with to XXL.
“Now I am now back in a medium.”
To shift the weight that she’d gained, Emily enlisted the help of a personal trainer and began tracking her calories daily.
She said: “I started off in the gym by doing predominantly cardio training mixed in with light weights.
“When I was younger I had always been a dancer, into gymnastics, trampolining etc, but I then gained some weight and felt too big to do those activities, so I quit.
“This led to more weight gain.
“Before I contacted my old personal trainer I had never really set foot in the gym.
“I was too scared of what people thought of me being a bigger girl and not knowing what exercises to do.
“My now fiancé told me I could always go with him and he would teach me.
“But I was too nervous so I always used to wait outside in the car for him while he went in.”
Despite her fears, Emily soon fell in love with her new training and realised that other gym-goers didn’t pay much attention to her.
But despite her weight loss and newfound love of fitness, worry is always at the back of her mind.
She said: “I think I speak for all woman when I say the fear of gaining weight is always there.
“Especially for those who have lost a substantial amount of weight like me, it is always going to be a fear in the back of my mind.
“As not all of the progress is on the scale, I take progress pictures every eight weeks or so.
“I still feel heavy when I run but I tell myself that if I want to go out and run [then] I will.
“Having had such a negative mindset towards my body for so many years, I don’t think I’ll ever feel 100% happy with my appearance – but I’m working on it.
“Sometimes, it can also feel like if I don’t track food that I eat even for one day, I have lost all progress.
“I have to keep reminding myself that this is not the case.
“I am so glad that I took the leap with my weight loss when I did, as my life really has done a 360-turn.
“I have never been happier or more content than I am now.”
Emily is also battling postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) but says she won’t let it get in the way of her progress.
The condition causes her heart rate to rise very quickly, which can affect her when working out.
She said: “My heart rate condition has held me back quite a lot in certain exercises and still does.
“When doing cardio or weight training I always wondered [why] my heart rate was so high but I still pushed on through everything as I wanted to lose weight so badly.
“POTS it is still quite unknown so I am slightly unclear on what I can and can’t do – but my doctor recommends to keep working out..
“I will be starting a new medication soon, which I am hoping will bring my heart rate down and in turn will allow me to exercise for longer.
“Part of my condition is exercise intolerance and I didn’t realise this until I was diagnosed and now it all makes sense!”
She says the reaction online has been positive, too.
Emily added: “People’s reaction on social media has been amazing.
“All I want to do is to be able to help others do the same and feel what I feel – proud of their body.”
DIET – BEFORE
BREAKFAST: Skip breakfast.
LUNCH: Sandwich, Crisps, Chocolate a fizzy drink.
Snacks throughout the afternoon.
DINNER– Pasta or something quite ‘carby’ with little protein.
DIET – AFTER
Breakfast: Protein yoghurt with granola and honey
Lunch: Sandwich with a protein bar and water
Dinner: Something with protein so chicken or mine with pasta and rice or veg
High protein snacks throughout the day.
