AN woman who lost more than five stone has told of how she has regained her confidence and transformed her mental health.

Kimberley Anderson, from Old Kilpatrick, struggled with her weight throughout her teenage years, and shortly after lockdown she decided it was “time to get a grip”.

Glasgow Times: The now 29-year-old weighed 16st 12lbs and by March 2023 she had lost 5st 7lbs. 

Glasgow Times: Kimberley told the Glasgow Times that during high school her mental health had taken a dip as she suffered ‘constant bullying’.

She said: “I was a lot heavier in high school and a lot of people used to bully me for that. Every day I’d be ridiculed for my weight and the way I looked.

“At the time I was part of the British and Scottish national Taekwondo teams so I was always fit and healthy.

“When people found out that I did Taekwondo that turned to a constant barrage every day, being bullied for just being myself.

“I used to look at other girls in my school who were able to wear pinafores. I’ll always remember my mum taking me to the shops to get one and I had to get a ladies' size 18.

“I was 15 years old and that really broke me.”

During her early 20s, Kimberley went through a “difficult” relationship that broke down.

Around this time she noticed a friend was having success whilst doing the 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan.

Glasgow Times: This was when she was introduced to her consultant Martin Bryan, also from Old Kilpatrick, who she praised as the "best support she could ever have".

Glasgow Times: Kimberley said: “Just after lockdown was lifted I’d come out of quite a difficult relationship and I was really overweight and just really hating life.

“When I looked in the mirror I said ‘It’s time to get a grip of your life’. At the time my friend was doing the 1:1 Diet and she’d lost something like two stone in just over a month.

“She gave me Martin’s details and we hit the ground running. Within less than a month I’d lost my first stone and we just kept going until I got to my goal.

“I’d never really done any diets before so it was more of a confidence issue when it came to contacting someone about my weight.

“Martin’s been the best support that I could ever have. There were weeks where I wasn’t losing enough, in my head it wasn’t enough, but Martin would pick me up and tell me to get out of my head.

“He didn’t just help my weight, he helped my mental health a lot.”

Kimberley says she is now more confident and feels like she has much more energy.

She added that her family say there is a big difference between her past self and present self as she is now “more confident and outgoing”.