A mother-of-three has revealed how a fat shaming incident on board a flight gave her the motivation to overhaul her diet and lose 77 pounds.
Kayla Martin, 25, from New Zealand took to her Instagram page to share how a flight attendant fat shamed her while she was travelling from Auckland to Queensland, Australia.
Dressed in a large jacket to conceal her body, the flight attendant told her she should have booked two seats so she would feel more ‘comfortable’ as the young mother struggled to fit her seat belt while holding her child.
Transformation: Kayla Martin, 25, from New Zealand has revealed how being fat shamed by a flight attendant inspired her to lose 77 pounds
Weight loss: The mother-of-three weighed 282 pounds at her heaviest (left) but now weighs 205 pounds (right)
Harsh: Kayla revealed in a heartfelt Instagram post that the flight attendant told her she should have booked two seats so she would feel more ‘comfortable’
Changes: Kayla decided to give up sugar and fast food and take up exercise in an effort to slim down after the birth of her third child
At the time Kayla weighed 282 pounds and although she has managed to slim down to 205 pounds, she revealed that her transformation has been mental as well as physical and she would now never let a person speak to her that way.
‘The feeling of pure embarrassment and shame is something I’ll never forget. I loved myself so little back then that I let that airline hostess treat me that way,’ she wrote on her Instagram page.
‘I believed I wasn’t deserving of the same respect that she was showing the rest of the passengers because in my head, I was worth less than every skinny person on that plane.’
Kayla shared that she now knows this was ‘the furthest thing from the truth’ and she wishes her old self could see how far she’s come.
‘The day I started LOVING myself enough to start taking care of ME and nourishing my body was the day I turned a new page. Both my physical and mental health have transformed so much since then and I am so PROUD,’ she added.
Speaking to People, Kayla detailed how the birth of her third child gave her the confidence to embark on a complete life overhaul.
Inspiration: She shared that looking at her daughter and seeing that her body could produce a child gave her the strength and confidence to change her habits
Stronger: She also revealed that she feels mentally as well as physically stronger since losing weight, pictured in February 2018
Overhaul: While she hasn’t reached the end of her weight loss journey, she’s now in a happy place and has finally learned to embrace her body, pictured in October 2017
Body positive: Kayla sees every ‘bump, lump and stretch mark’ as a ‘physical testimony’ of how far she’s come, pictured in January 2018
‘I had never seen my body as doing anything positive for me, but here I was with my daughter in my arms — the most perfect human I had ever seen — and that was all thanks to my body!’ she said.
‘From there I started my journey of self love and inner healing, and that’s where I started wanting to nourish my body with what it needed so that my body could be healthy.’
She started by cutting out sugar, fast food and bread and began exercising, initially walking for 30 minutes a day before starting a weight training program.
And while hasn’t reached the end of her weight loss journey, she’s now in a happy place and has finally learned to embrace her body.
‘I’m at a point where I wholeheartedly love and appreciate myself and my body,’ she added.
‘I appreciate every bump, lump and stretch mark as they are all a physical testimony to the journey that I have been on.’