I was fat & being told to ‘eat chicken nuggets’ inspired me to get a £3k gastric sleeve – but trolls say I look HAGGARD
THIS 30-year-old mum was so distraught when a vile bloke on a night out made a ‘chicken nuggets’ jibe about her weight she booked a gastric sleeve in Turkey the NEXT DAY – and now ‘feels 17 again’.
Singleton Tara Omidi began to pile on the pounds and struggle with binge eating after her son was born back in 2011 when she was just 17 years old.
Despite trying everything from counselling to Slimming World, the singleton was stuck in a ‘binge-restrict’ cycle, indulging in extreme binges of greasy food, fizzy drinks, and chocolate every Sunday.
But the ‘cherry on top’ was when a vile bloke who her ‘skinny’ friend had been flirting with singled Tara out of the group on a night out and told her to ‘go home and stuff her face with chicken nuggets‘.
The 30-year-old booked the gastric sleeve surgery the next day and in September 2022 underwent the procedure which has now helped her lose over five stone and drop four dress sizes.
The TikTok presenter was almost 14 stone at the time and paid £3,110 which included the return flights to Turkey, transfers, and the surgery.
Now weighing in at eight stone and nine pounds, the mum-of-one is ‘flourishing’ and can’t believe the old photos of herself are actually her.
Despite trolls saying her weight loss has made her look ‘haggard’ and its ‘aged her’, she believes she looks younger and feels like she’s 17 again.
Meanwhile, most social media users have praised her incredible weight loss journey and many say she looks 17 again.
Tara, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, said: “Before the binge eating started, I was always kind of fluctuating between eight and eight and half stone.
“Once I had my son, I piled four stone on.
“I was getting bigger and bigger. I hated myself and had no self confidence whatsoever.
“The final cherry on top was when I was on a night out with two of my friends who are both thinner than me.
“They met these guys out. They were both flirting with them when one of these men said to me ‘you go home, you, and go and stuff your face with a load of chicken nuggets’.
“I cried when I got in and thought ‘I can’t do this anymore, I’m booking the surgery’.”
Tara felt she was stuck in ‘vicious’ binge-and-restrict cycle, going on the treadmill and only eating coco pops during the week then having an all-day long binge every Sunday.
Tara said: “I was so down, I was in a vicious cycle and I thought ‘I can’t do this anymore’.
“I was basically hibernating. If I was in a supermarket, I’d dodge the isles to try and avoid people. I thought ‘I can’t live like this’.
“From the minute I’d open my eyes to the minute I’d shut my eyes on a Sunday I’d eat absolutely everything in sight.
“I’d go from one extreme to the other. It’s embarrassing but on those binge days it’d be like three takeouts a day.
“Now, I feel younger in the way I look and feel now. My energy levels are so much better.
“I feel like I did when I was 17 again. I feel young again.
“I get trolls saying ‘you look haggard now’. But I don’t let it get to me. I definitely look and feel younger and being healthy is all that matters at the end of the day.”
Since losing over five stone, Tara looks back and can hardly believe the way she looked but now feels more self-confident than ever and wishes she’d undergone the surgery sooner.
Tara said: “I look at old photos and can’t believe it’s me. I knew I’d put the weight on but I couldn’t believe I’d let myself get that bad.
“With my partner at the time, I felt bad about myself. I thought ‘why is he even with me?’ I thought he was going to cheat on me because I was so big.
“Now I’m excited to get up and get started on the day and get a nice outfit on.
“I used to feel worse after putting makeup on because I’d feel like I was trying too hard and I felt minging. I couldn’t win. But now I want to do my hair nice and put makeup on.
“I left a relationship I wasn’t happy in. I was so miserable and putting up with it because I thought I’d never meet anyone else again. Now I feel like I’m flourishing.
“I have been a little bit flirty and chatting here and there with people, but it all comes with your self love and confidence.”
TYPICAL DIET BEFORE SURGERY:
Breakfast: A full English or cheese on toast
Lunch: McDonald’s or a KFC
Dinner: Pizza delivery with chips and desert
Snacks: Fizzy drinks in between each meal, chocolate and sweets after dinner
TYPICAL DIET NOW:
Breakfast: Low calorie toast with no crust and a cup of tea or a protein mocha and a cereal bar with vitamin gummies
Lunch: Soup or a sandwich
Dinner: A small jacket potato with low fat cheese, beans and salad or low calorie pasta bake or two slices of homemade pizza
Snacks: A chocolate bar or popcorn after dinner