A mum lost 12 stone after being fat-shamed on a flight. Jennifer Louise was left “humiliated and embarrassed” when a cabin steward made a comment about her on a return flight from Lanzarote in May 2023.
The flight attendant insisted that Jennier’s armrest needed to be lowered as they prepared to land, claiming that weight was “all about life choices.” Jennifer, 42, weighed 24 stone and wore a dress size 26 after years of yo-yo dieting and ‘mega’ portions.
She found herself regularly relying on caffeine and Rich Tea cookies to get through her 40-hour work week as a proposal manager. But when she returned to Britain after that flight, Jennifer ditched the carbs and incorporated sugar in a bid to lose weight.
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In the first year she lost 12 stone, more than half her body weight, and now weighs 12st 2lb and is a slim dress size 14. Mum-of-one Jennifer, who is now a writer, from Bedfordshire, said: “I been overweight most of my adult life, so I was used to strangers staring and staring at me.
“But I didn’t expect a professional to comment on my body while slamming an armrest into me. I felt ashamed and burst into tears.
(Image: Jennifer Louise © SWNS)
“Unless you’ve struggled with your weight, you don’t know how demeaning a comment like that is. That’s when I knew I had to change something.
“Within four months I had lost four stone, and we got our puppy, Merlin, now nine months old. He was the gamechanger because it meant I got to go out and take him for walks, rain or shine.
“I’m half the woman I once was, but I’ve gained so much because I can finally go to a store and find clothes for my size. Most of all, I’m finally the healthy mother my daughter needs – she tells me that I am now ‘even more beautiful’.”
Jennifer had always struggled with her weight growing up and continued to gain weight during her pregnancy with her nine-year-old daughter, born in May 2015. After snacking all day at work, she ate “mega portions” of dinner at home with her husband Stewart, 38, a purchasing manager.
Despite trying fad diets and weight loss programs such as Slimming World, Atkins and Keto, any progress Jennifer made would be undone by her emotional eating and dormant lifestyle.
“I’ve been dieting since I was 16, but nothing worked,” Jennifer said. “I stuck to the diet I was on at the time, but lost motivation.
“I didn’t see the point in restricting myself to lose a few pounds a week. I soon fell back into old habits. I also had no idea how to control portions and just sat on a desk all day.”
But after a “humiliating” encounter with a flight attendant, Jennifer decided in May 2023 that “enough was enough.” Jennifer signed up for the Lighter Life weight loss plan in June 2023 and swapped her high-carb meals for meal replacement shakes.
She said: “I couldn’t believe how easy it was and the weight just melted off me. Getting Merlin meant I had no excuse not to get my steps in.
“I now take 18,000 steps a day. At the weekend we can take lovely long walks as a family, which my daughter loves.
“I can now easily shave my legs and fit into the bath. Parents at school treat me differently, which is bittersweet for me because when I was fat, all strangers thought about was me.
“I love the way I look, but knowing my daughter is proud of me is the real victory. This year we are going back to Lanzarote – with a different airline – and for the first time in my adult life we feel confident .”
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