A young woman who lost 10st to pick up a national slimming award is proving her childhood bullies wrong by becoming the confident, fit and healthy person she always wanted to be. Lucie Hadley, 21, from Peterborough, struggled with her weight since childhood and was so relentlessly bullied at school that she was forced to move classes several times. When she started her body transformation, Lucie, who is 5'6'', weighed 19th 3lbs and wore size 22 - 24 clothing. After losing ten stone, Lucie is now 9th 3lbs and has an enviable size eight figure. Now, Lucie has been named Slimming World’s Young Slimmer of the Year 2019 and is brimming with confidence.
Lucie, who lives with her parents and her boyfriend, said: 'When I was at school, barely a day would go by when people wouldn’t mention my weight. 'School life was very upsetting for me, and I moved classes many times because of bullying. I lost count of the number of times I would go home early, pretending to be ill, because of the cruel things people used to say. 'I remember once someone threw food at me in the school canteen and made the remark "she’ll eat it, she eats everything". They just made me feel worthless.' PE lessons were the worst. I’d try to convince my mum to write me a note, so I didn’t have to change in front of people, and I was terrified of doing physical activities like the bleep test. Sometimes I’d just hide in the changing rooms and cry.
'My confidence at that time was rock bottom and the bullying just made everything worse.' Even away from school, Lucie found that her weight struggles were dominating her life. 'My mum and sister were always keen to go on girly shopping trips, but they were just a living nightmare for me,' she explained. 'Most young people would have loved going out and getting new clothes – not me. I couldn’t fit into anything the high street shops had to offer, so I’d always end up in tears and empty-handed on the way home.
'Even my school uniform had to be specially made because the biggest size they had wouldn’t fit me.' I missed out on so much because I felt insecure about my size. I hated getting glammed up for nights out, and my weight was always on my mind. 'I remember going to a sleepover with my friends and cutting the labels out of my clothes in case anyone picked them up by mistake and spotted what size I was.' I met my boyfriend Sam when I was at my biggest, and he always told me that I was beautiful, but I just couldn’t see it for myself. One night I was talking to Sam and I realised that by worrying about my weight I’d lost out on all of my fun, spontaneous teenage years.
'I’d already spent my childhood feeling miserable about my weight, and now I was heading into adulthood feeling the same way. It was a bit of a lightbulb moment and I knew something had to change.' Lucie’s mother had recently joined a local Slimming World group and encouraged her to go along with her. 'Mum seemed to be getting along well at Slimming World, and the food she was eating looked delicious. So, after a bit of persuading, I decided to join her group,' she recalled. 'I was so nervous that first night. Even though I had my mum with me I worried that everyone would judge me for being so overweight at such a young age.
Lucie's diet before
Breakfast: Full English breakfast with fried eggs, bacon, sausages and bread
Mid-morning: Scotch eggs, sausage rolls, party sausages
Lunch: Shop-bought sandwich with crisps and a fizzy drink
Mid-afternoon: Pastry or cake
Dinner: Takeaway pizza with a burger, chicken wings and chips
Evening: Share-size bag of sweets, pick and mix
Lucie's diet now
Breakfast: Low-fat sausages, lean bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans
Mid-morning: Fruit
Lunch: Homemade pasta salad
Mid-afternoon: Cucumber or veg sticks, homemade Scotch egg
Dinner: Homemade 'fakeaway' such as a Chinese dish, curry or pizza with Slimming Word chips
Evening: Fruit, jelly, Slimming World hi-fibre bar
'I felt so ashamed, but within minutes I realised that everyone was in that room for the same reason, and rather than judging, we were all there to support each other. 'My group is like a second family now, I couldn’t have done it without them.' After learning about Slimming World’s Food Optimising eating plan Lucie stocked her cupboards with Free Food such as pasta, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, eggs and more. She says: 'Of course I was worried that I’d be hungry all the time – yet I actually found that I could still eat many of my favourite foods. I’d always known how to cook and I learnt that I just had to prepare meals differently, using low-calorie cooking spray and trimming all the fat off meat. 'As a family, we enjoyed spaghetti Bolognese, full English breakfasts and spicy curries, which tasted so good I couldn’t believe that they were helping me to lose weight. In that first week, I lost 5lb, and that was when I realised I could really do this. From there on there was no stopping me.' Within 14 months of joining Slimming World Lucie was 10th lighter and had discovered a brand-new zest for life. 'My whole attitude is just so different now a week by week my confidence just grew and grew,' she said.
'I work at a school for children with special needs and these days I feel like I can offer them so much more. Before I lost the weight my knees and back would ache so much and even getting down on the floor to play with them was a struggle. Now I’ve got bags of energy and I feel like I can do anything! 'As I lost weight I also unearthed a passion for exercise, which is something I never thought would happen. I’ve gone from someone who would sob in the changing rooms to someone who goes to the gym as a hobby and to me that’s just incredible. 'The tears and misery are a thing of the past now too, it’s me who’s dragging my mum and sister to the shops!' Sam and I recently went on our first holiday together and for the first time in my life, I finally felt like a young woman who was just enjoying herself and living in the moment. 'I even wore a bikini for the first time ever, which is something I used to dream of. When I look at the person in the mirror now, I feel full of pride for what I’ve achieved. I’ve created a healthier and happier future for myself and most importantly, I haven’t let the bullies win. 'I might have let my teenage years pass me by, but now I’m determined to grab life with both hands.'