Tori White is now a personal trainer and urges people trying to lose weight to stop being so hard on themselves and go on a ‘journey of self love and acceptance’
A woman has launched a new career as a personal trainer after transforming her body by losing eight stone in nine months.
Tori White was 17 stone at her heaviest, as a result of what she calls ‘depression meals’ that gave her comfort while she struggled with her mental health, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The 21-year-old said: “I always used to skip breakfast and I’d always have two lunches. My mum would always pack me a lunch and I’d always go to the lunch bar in school to get another one.
“On the bus home I’d stop off at KFC, then have my tea at my mum’s and then have toast before bed.
“I think it was a comfort thing because I used to call it my depression meal. If I had a bad day I’d always come home, have a large Domino’s pizza with a bag of wedges and a side of chicken strips.
“I’d finish that off with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s and a full bottle of coke and I would finish it all in one sitting.
“When I look back I think how can a human fit all of that food in the body. It should be physically impossible. It was more of an emotional crutch I think.
“I think it was because nothing could make me feel good because I still hated myself and for that first half an hour of eating that pizza I felt amazing and that’s why I always went back to food.”
During one family holiday, Tori’s insecurity over her weight led to her refusing to leave a bedroom.
She said: “My mum was trying to help me for years. I remember vividly being on holiday in Turkey and I used to lock myself in the bedroom because I was too insecure to go to the pool in my swimming costume.
“My nan turned to me and said ‘I will get you a personal trainer, we will do anything to help because you are not Tori anymore, you’re just a shell of yourself.’
“At the time I was like no, I’m not doing it and then something just clicked in my head and that’s when I started.
“I was young at the time so I think I was like ‘I know what I’m doing’ as every teenager would think, but I remember the turning point for me was coming up to year 11 prom.”
During a shopping trip to find a dress, she discovered she had gone up to a size 24, and this was the moment that Tori knew she had to change her lifestyle.
She said: “I remember breaking down in floods of tears and thinking this needs to change now because I physically can’t go on like this anymore.
“When I get something in my head it’s the only thing I can envision and I can tell I wanted it this time because I’d tried all the diets before, but this time I didn’t approach it as a diet, I approached it as more of a lifestyle change.”
Now that she’s a personal trainer, Tori wants to help others who are struggling with their own battles with their weight.
