17 year old, sixth year student, Larah Gorman from Wicklow is loving life after losing 3 stone 8lbs. No longer seen as “the big girl”, Larah is enjoying the important things in teen life, like shopping, going out with her friends.
I was always chubby growing up, but by 4th year in school my eating habits had just gotten out of control and my weight crept up and up. I was eating the wrong food all the time, my favourite breakfast was a bag of crisps and I would order Chinese takeaways for my dinner. My mum would try steer me back to healthier foods, but I always got around it.
Like most teenagers, I would try whatever diet was going, or even just try to eat more fruit and vegetables for a few days, but by day 3, I would expect big results, and when they didn’t come I would just go back to my old habits.
I have always been a bubbly person, but before I lost the weight, I would describe my personality as “over the top” – a tactic I used to mask the fact that I was overweight. I would wear heavy make up to make me feel better about myself. I hated shopping as I couldn’t fit into the styles that my friends were wearing and I always felt like the “big girl” in my group of friends, it was an unsaid thing, but it’s how I felt. I did have a few incidents where people would slag me and or make comments about my weight. It wasn’t a nice feeling but I’d hide it with my larger than life personality.
I decided enough was enough and I joined Unislim in Ashford with my mum in April 2016. I liked the idea that having a weekly weigh in and a leader to guide me along meant that I had a focus each week. My leader Carolann Curley was fantastic and even though I was nervous at my first class, I felt supported and left feeling so motivated to get started. I lost 5lbs in my first week, everyone at class cheered me on and I left that day feeling so happy, in control and excited about my second week.
Doing Unislim with my mum meant we got to bond too – we cooked together, got out for walks and supported each other. Our whole family were eating Unislim meals and loving it. I started thinking about healthier options for my favourite foods and tried out new Fakeaway recipes from the Unislim website to have instead of Chinese Takeaways. Now I make healthy chicken curry and satay and they are delicious! I started to thrive on eating good food, it was making me feel great, I was losing weight and I never felt deprived, even on my nights out with my friends.
The biggest “wow moment” for me was when I went back to school last September. I had lost 3 stone over the Summer and my classmates who I hadn’t seen over the holidays couldn’t believe how different I looked. Now, I can borrow clothes from my friends – which I had never been able to do before. I have bundles of energy and I don’t get out of breath when I am walking – I have actually started to love exercise and have taken up spinning. Plus, I had to get a new school uniform, as my old one was too big for me.
This summer was fantastic. I got to wear clothes that I’d never have worn before, like shorts and summer dresses. I felt so confident on my holidays.
To anyone out there who felt like I did, no matter what age you are, all I can say is, join Unislim, it’s so worth it. As someone who loves social media, having access to the Unislim app where I can track my food and chat with other members means that I can ask questions, get great support and chat with other members.
I love seeing the changes week by week, not just to my weight but to my personality. I am more confident, more myself. I don’t have to wear lots of make up or be OTT to distract people from my size – I can just be myself, naturally.
