A woman spent £15k to lose 10 stone and was left shocked by how differently people treat her.

Emma Docherty felt “morbidly obese” at 23 stone after struggling with food addiction all her life.

The 46-year-old, who lives near Ibrox, underwent a gastric sleeve, a gastric bypass, a boob lift and a tummy tuck, in a desperate bid to shed some weight.

Glasgow Times:

After losing 140 pounds she has more energy than ever but noticed despite always being confident and extroverted, it is only now people “respect her”.

Growing up with body issues Emma always felt she had to “compensate” by having a bubbly personality as she felt “hard to love”.

She went through with the surgeries to see a physical transformation but was disappointed that it took surgery for “people to take her more seriously” as she has “always been the same person”.

Now she hopes to inspire others by showing change is possible if you want it, but also hopes to reduce the discrimination and stigma against overweight people by sharing her experience.

Glasgow Times:

Emma told the Glasgow Times: “I just felt morbidly obese at 23 stone, I would eat compulsively all the time, everything in sight, even with the sleeve I would eat as much as I could.

“It wasn’t that I was just lazy. It was a real problem and I needed help.

“I spent around £15,000 on my surgeries which sounds like a lot, but it has made a big difference to my life.

“I have noticed since losing weight I feel like people respect me more.

“I’ve always been really confident and extroverted, but people don’t really take that seriously when you are bigger.

“It shouldn’t be like that though because my personality has always been the same, but the way people treat me is a lot different just because of my size.

“I felt I had to work much harder to get people to love me at a bigger size, like I had to prove something. I don’t think that is fair.”

Glasgow Times:

Glasgow Times:

Emma, who is five foot ten inches tall, had her first surgery in 2015 in Turkey as she underwent a sleeve gastrectomy.

This involves a large part of the stomach being removed so it is much smaller meaning you cannot eat as much and feel full sooner, according to the NHS.

She dropped seven stone but over lockdown felt her weight go up to 18 and a half stone, prompting her to book in for a gastric bypass at Weight Loss Riga in Latvia in November 2020.

Glasgow Times:

This involved surgical staples that create a small pouch at the top of the stomach, which is connected to your small intestine, missing out the rest of the stomach.

Then after shrinking down to 13 stone, she decided to return to Turkey for a boob and tummy tuck in the summer to tackle excess skin.

Now she is battling her eating issues by focusing on exercise and healthy options.

Glasgow Times:

She said: “For me food is a lifelong addiction, the excitement around it doesn’t go away even now after my surgeries.

“I have struggled with my weight and food all my life, when I was 18 I would use diet pills.

“I used to be an addiction worker so I understand it, I just felt I had to overeat and found it was emotions like stress that triggered me.

“After the first surgery, the sleeve, I did lose weight but I was still eating cheese and crisps so the weight crept back.

“I got the bypass for more restriction, but I still need to watch what I am eating and go to the gym.

“It has been a long journey, but I feel so inspired and hope I can show others that change is possible.”

If you struggle with food issues reach out to your GP or contact support@eatingdisorderscotland.co.uk