Sex abuse survivor ends emotional eating and drops 150lbs

A Canada woman is reclaiming her life after she let it spiral out of control as food became her coping mechanism to deal with childhood trauma of sexual abuse and bullying and saw her tip the scales at 320lbs.

But one decision in 2011 changed Ashley Amaral’s life in the most dramatic of ways, calling for her to face her childhood fears and obesity, and resulting in major results including dropping 150lbs into her new sexy and self-confident body at a trim 170lbs.

But the Toronto sex abuse survivor, 30, reveals that her dramatic weight loss was about so much more than just achieving a new physique because it meant she had to confront her trauma stirring beneath the surface and finding healing.

Brand new bod! Today she’s an entirely different vision, her curves revealed and confidence soaring after dropping 150lbs to a flattering 170lbs (above)

Before and after: Before her gastric sleeve surgery in 2011 she was heavy and consumed a 5,000 calories a day (left), but today her figure is taut and diet carefully controlled (right)

Ashley’s old diet of 5,000 calories a day with meals spanning McDonalds breakfasts, pizza, hamburgers, fries, desserts and at least five sugary cola drinks a day gave her major health problems spanning obesity, fatigue and a gutted self-esteem.

Her weight caused some of her most humiliating moments from being taunted as ‘fat cow’ in school, requiring a seat belt extender on airplane rides, and being refused on roller coaster rides for her size. 

‘My size led to series of problems, including when I went to a theme park and they couldn’t lock the seat, so I had to do the walk of shame – that broke me and made me realize how big I was,’ the administration worker shared.

‘A year later I went on an airplane and needed a seatbelt extender, all those little things added up over time,’ she added.

She took her first step towards transforming her lifestyle in 2011 with a gastric sleeve surgery for her weight loss journey. 

‘The person I saw in the mirror wasn’t me anymore, it was a mask that I had put on to hide with and it was at that moment that I decided I was ready to take back control of my life,’ she revealed on her life-changing decision. 

Despite trimming inches off her waist, she still knew that there was a deeper issue to tackle to fully combat her life-long struggle with weight. 

‘I knew in that part of my life, I was going to help my physical and mental health, by dealing with what happened when I was younger,’ she said. 

‘Food became my comfort for when I was happy or sad, the psychological part was that if I was large, I was repulsive and so would be safe,’ she added.

Although her figure kept alarmingly expanding, Ashley reveals there was a comfort in her size, rooted in the devastating childhood sexual abuse she endured at age 10. 

‘The adult came to the side of my bed and started whispering things in my ear like, “Do you like to be tickled,” and touched me in areas an adult shouldn’t touch. He grabbed my hand and proceeded to make me touch him,’ she revealed on her scarring experience. 

One day she had enough of the emotional weight of self-loathing and hurt and pursued court action. 

‘I decided I finally had enough 16-years-later, I told my family and the police, it went to court but due to problems we couldn’t convict,’ she shared.

Bottoms up! Ashley shared that there were two aspects to her weight loss, the physical and psychological, saying she piled on weight to be ‘repulsive and so would be safe’

Hot mama! Today she’s blonde, thin, and feels more energetic than ever and is glad to have stamina to finally play with her son without tiring out after two minutes

Cheese! The surge in self-confidence is palpable from Ashley’s smile (above), but it’s meaning goes much deeper and reveals internal healing from her childhood trauma

Although the court couldn’t come to a conviction, she safeguarded herself by piling on weight to avoid being physically desirable. 

‘I was abused when I was younger, so food became my coping mechanism, it was my drug of choice,’ she explained.

‘If you’re fat and ugly, no one will touch or abuse you again, that was my mentality as a ten-year-old,’ she added. 

Childhood bullying on her size only added to her eating solution, but caused emotional pain during her childhood years.

‘At school, bullying led me to gain a lot of weight too, I was very unhappy with how I looked and I used food to bury my problems,’ she said.

‘I remember a boy in school who had a crush on me was ridiculed, they would say, “Oh god, you like the fat girl, what’s wrong with you?” It would upset me and hurt a lot but I never showed it, I would hide it and then when I was home I would cry,’ she added.

Today she’s had a major re-haul of her entire former diet and adopted exercises into her weekly routines following her surgical procedure. But her 180 lifestyle change proved much harder than anticipated.

‘The first year was a learning curve where I had to battle only eating certain amounts, feeling sick and then even certain foods would make me ill,’ she said. 

‘I thought I would lose all my weight quickly and it would be easy, but it wasn’t. I had to learn to eat healthily, make better choices including ditching fizzy drinks for water,’ she explained.

Today her physique is unrecognizable at 170lbs; she is trim, and boasts a flattened tummy, toned arms, and full hips.

‘My friends are super proud of me, some have been motivated to start their own weight loss journey now,’ she said. 

But she reveals the best part is her ability to be a better mother with her surge in energy. 

‘I have so much more stamina now, I do pole classes and can play around with my son without dying after two minutes of exercise,’ she explained.

‘I’m excited to be able to run around and raise my son to lead a balanced healthy lifestyle, I can play sports with them and not be out of breath,’ she shared.

She reveals that for the first time she feels sexy – and is strong enough to feel proud about it.

‘Before I was big and round with no shape, now I feel like a woman, I have curves and feel sexy, before I could pretend I was confident but I didn’t truly feel that way,’ she reveals. 

‘It’s very empowering to be a woman and feel sexy about yourself, to not need anyone or anything else to feel that way,’ she added. 

With her new found confidence she shares that her taunters and bullies have come back around, but this time in awe. 

‘I was always the ‘fat girl’ at school, people would laugh and call me names, they would snicker behind my back, calling me “fat cow” or tell me I was “huge,”‘ she shared.

‘It’s funny to watch their faces now, they don’t recognize unless they’ve heard it through the grapevine or seen my pictures,’ she said.

‘They try making small talk instead of being rude like before, but I’m not a fake person and don’t hide or try to make them feel better for what they did,’ she firmly explained. 

From traumatized and relentless bullied, to stunning and self confident, Ashley’s grown in ways that has her begging the question, who’s laughing now.