Scarlet Black spent £7,000 a year on takeaways sheds 10 stone

A fast food ‘addict’ who  spent up to £20 a day on junk food and tipped the scales at 25 stone has said her life has been transformed after she had gastric sleeve surgery and dropped seven dress sizes.

Scarlet Black, 25, from Chelsea, says she was cruelly mocked and called a ‘fatty’ growing up at school, because her clothes didn’t fit her larger frame.

The content creator says she later got stuck in a ‘vicious cycle’ of emotional binge eating that saw her fork out around £600 a month on takeaways for two years and at her largest she wore size 24-26 clothing.

But after a friend said she was ‘sickened’ by the kebabs, pizza, fried chicken and soft drinks she was eating every day, Scarlet took action and went to Turkey for gastric sleeve surgery to remove 80 percent of her stomach, which cost her around £2,800.

Scarlet now leads a healthier lifestyle, has dropped seven dress sizes to a size 12 and claims she feels like a ‘new person’ at 13 stone – and  she is telling the ‘popular kids’ who mocked her at school to ‘please do one’ instead of following her on social media. 

She now weighs 13 stone and wears a size 12-14 and says she feels great after having surgery (seen in October this year)

Scarlet said: ‘Life is actually amazing. I’m a new person and cannot recommend this surgery enough for anyone who struggles – it’s changed my life. 

‘I now wear clothes which I’d never have had the confidence to wear before. I can really express myself and get some more skin out. 

‘I went on a holiday a month ago and wore a bikini and felt amazing. It was so weird but felt so good to wear a bikini for the first time in my life.

‘It was liberating. I was just me and no one looked at me weirdly. I wasn’t worrying about anything. ‘Before I’d always wear a full-length swimsuit and would be feeling self-conscious. I was trying to hide my belly even though you could still see it, it was a comfort blanket.’ 

Scarlet now leads a healthier lifestyle, has dropped seven dress sizes to a size 12 and claims she feels like a ‘new person’ at 13 stone (seen left before and right after surgery)

The content creator says she later got stuck in a ‘vicious cycle’ of emotional binge eating that saw her fork out around £600 a month on takeaways for two years

Scarlet said she lacked confidence at school so when she was in school other girls would wear ‘cute’ skirts during the summer months, while she’d be reluctant to show her legs. Scarlet said: ‘I was always chubby as a child. 

‘People would just laugh and call me ‘fatty’ and whatever else. I definitely got discriminated against because of my size. 

‘They said things like ‘here she comes’ and ‘don’t swing back on your chair you’ll break it’. 

‘At the end of primary school I started being more self aware that I was a big girl. There wasn’t really many other big people and I started thinking ‘well, no one else really looks like me’ and felt like I stood out. 

‘It was horrible because I didn’t have the confidence I do now. Children get picked on for being the chubby one and back then it really affected me that’s probably why I had the mindset of ‘if I want to have friends in college I need to be slim like everyone else’.’ 

But after a friend said she was ‘sickened’ by the kebabs, pizza, fried chicken and soft drinks she was eating every day, Scarlet took action

Scarlet went to Turkey for gastric sleeve surgery to remove 80 percent of her stomach, which cost her around £2,800

The former carer said she gained weight during her childhood years to her early teens but just before starting college lost around ten stone. 

During her binge eating period which lasted for two years she’d spend around £15-£20 a day on takeaways like fried chicken, pizza or kebabs. 

She’d also drink a 1.5 litre bottle of full fat coke every day and splash out up to £10 on snacks like prawn cocktail Pringles or chocolate buttons. 

Scarlet said: ‘I had a really bad food addiction. I’ve always been madly in love with food.

‘I had a love-hate relationship with it. It was definitely self-destructive and wasn’t good for me as I wasn’t eating properly. 

‘During that two year period I was pretty much having takeaways every day. ‘I was a binge eater. It was definitely an emotionally eating problem. If I was sad food would cheer me up and then I’d be sad again because I was like ‘oh my God I’m eating again’. It was a vicious cycle that I couldn’t get out of. 

She added: ‘I was binge eating with the friend I was living with at the time and my other friend would be like ‘oh my God, this is the biggest I’ve ever seen you.’ 

‘It was a wake-up call. I didn’t realise how big I was. She came around and was cooking us a roast one time and we’d gone and got a Mcdonald’s just before the dinner and she said ‘Jesus, I didn’t know how much you were eating’.

‘She said she felt a bit sick by how much she saw me and my friend eating.’ 

The former carer said she gained weight during her childhood years to her early teens but just before starting college lost around ten stone – seen now after her weight loss

She has said her life has been transformed after she had gastric sleeve surgery and dropped seven dress sizes

Scarlet says she was cruelly mocked and called a ‘fatty’ growing up at school, because her clothes didn’t fit her larger frame

Scarlet said she’d get out of breath when climbing the stairs and would avoid rides or roller coasters out of fear she wouldn’t fit into their seats.

‘When I looked in the mirror I saw that I needed help. I was unhealthy and unfit as sometimes I would be breathing heavily but I never hated myself. I’d had enough of being this person that sat in doors eating all day, that was my only happiness. I got fed up of that and it was time to stop,’ she said.

‘I had to get an extender belt on the aeroplane. It’s so embarrassing having to put your hand up and ask for one. I was trying to squeeze my tummy in even if it was uncomfortable. It does feel shameful because people do look and they’re thinking ‘oh my God, she wants that belt’. 

‘I just wore the same black leggings all the time and a white top and a big coat to cover up the rest of me. 

‘I kind of feel disgusted in myself [when looking at old pictures]. That sounds really harsh but I don’t know how I got to that point and didn’t realise I was that big and unhealthy. I watch videos and I’m moving and can’t even breathe, it’s disgusting to see myself in that way.’ 

The art lover said that after years of ‘struggling’ with yo-yo dieting she travelled to Turkey for the procedure to remove 80 percent of her stomach, which cost her around £2,800. 

Just before her surgery she weighed 23 stone six pounds and was a size 22. Now weighing 13 stone four pounds and a size 12-14, Scarlet will soon be getting plastic surgery to have liposuction and her excess skin removed. 

She’s also since gained a healthy relationship with food and goes to the gym around four to five days a week. 

Scarlet said: ‘Now I’m so active and have so much more energy. I look healthy and feel healthy and when you do that, everything feels good. 

She’s now gained a healthy relationship with food and goes to the gym around four to five days a week

During her binge eating period which lasted for two years she’d spend around £15-£20 a day on takeaways like fried chicken, pizza or kebabs and had to wear a seatbelt extender on the plane

Just before her surgery sh e weig hed 23 stone six pounds and was a size 22

Scarlet said she’d get out of breath when climbing the stairs and would avoid rides or roller coasters out of fear she wouldn’t fit into their seats (left) and now feels amazing (right)

 Scarlet will soon be getting plastic surgery to have liposuction and her excess skin removed

‘People are like ‘oh my God, you look so different’ ‘I’ve had the popular kids from secondary school now follow me and try messaging me and stuff like that. Every now and again they’ll like a video or a picture and a few months ago someone messaged me saying ‘hi’ or whatever. 

‘I would just ignore or delete it because I obviously don’t want to know anything about them. 

‘They were the ones taking the mick out of little things about me about how I look like how my blazer didn’t do up or my trousers look different to everyone else’s because they weren’t the normal skinny ones. 

‘It’s an ego boost, I can’t lie. People that didn’t want to know me back then see how well I’m doing now and how good I’m looking now and they want to know me. Please do one kindly.’