Derbyshire woman tormented by bullies has the last laugh after losing over 16 stone

Clara Barrett, 31, tipped the scales at a whopping 29 stone after gorging on a diet of custard doughnuts, chocolate bars and unhealthy takeaways.

She was mercilessly picked on at school by evil bullies who cruelly branded her "fatty", pulled down her trousers and even stabbed her with a compass.

And on one occasion a passenger in a car hurled a takeaway container at her - hitting Clara full in the face leaving her covered in noodles and sauce.

But it was following a break-up with her husband that Clara decided to turn her life around and enlisted the help of a personal trainer in 2019.

She has since managed to slim down from a size 36 dress to a svelte size 8 losing more than half her body weight as a result of a exercise and a change of diet.

Following her incredible weight loss Clara has been left her with excess loose skin, weighing around 25lbs, which she is now hoping to get surgically removed.

Clara, of Swadlincote, said: "It has been quite a journey.

"Even at primary school I was a chubby girl. At age 11, I was already 11 stone.

"Throughout school I was teased and called 'fatty' for being larger than my classmates.

"It got so bad that I turned to comfort eating and slowly but surely, the pounds piled on as the bullying got worse.

"People used to pull my trousers down. One girl slapped me round the face every day for a year.

"I was also stabbed in the back by a compass 62 times and spent the rest of the day with blood dripping down my back.

"They said 'I bet you're so fat you can't feel this'.

"If you are fat you are treated like an animal. It was like I wasn't human to them."

After leaving school and going to college, Clara became involved with a man who she said "liked his women big."

She then ballooned from 13 stone to 29 stone throughout her 20s before finally plucking up the courage to leave her husband.

Clara added: "I then came across an American personal trainer - Body by Ryan Fitness who changed my life.

"He claimed all you needed to do to lose weight was to live in a calorie deficit. Mine was calculated at 1,800 calories a day.

"Quickly I was on my way to the supermarket buying nutritious products.

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"I started my journey eating a bowl of muesli everyday with soya milk and then chicken or salmon with vegetables for my lunch and for dinner a chicken wrap.

"Watching the scale drop every time I stood on them made me feel ecstatic.

"I then started going to gym and quickly fell in love with working out and exercise.

"I started with weights and now do powerlifting, run on the cross trainer and everything in between. I walk at least 10,000 steps a day

"I’ve finally found peace and happiness."Nowadays for breakfast Clara has cereal such as muesli or granola with soya protein milk or Marmite on wholemeal or seeded bread.

If she is snacking, she will eat a Go Ahead bar and for lunch tuna, courgettes, tomato, pepper and pasta.

For tea after the gym - as she now regularly exercises - she will have a protein-filled chicken wrap.

Clara is also now trying to raise £15,000 to fund an operation to remove her excess skin.

She added: "I am trying to be kinder to myself and raise money so I can get it surgically removed.

"I’m on a two-year waiting list but nothing is definite. I have already been waiting so long.

"I know I will never be ‘skinny’, but I don’t want to be. I am healthier than I have ever been and dream of training to be a nutritionist.

"I just want to show other overweight people what you can achieve if you put your mind to it."

Those wishing to donate to Clara's cause can do so here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-with-my-excess-skin-removal?qid=55d447e145b8c9920b32dd1a41a817ef

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