I took a Gap Year to lose 6 Stone

Hannah took a year off life to lose weight and find confidence...

Before, Hannah typically ate nothing for breakfast, a fry up for lunch, lots of Doritos and Ben & Jerry’s, then pizza for dinner. 

Now, Hannah typically eats porridge for breakfast, couscous salad for lunch, then chicken and vegetables for dinner. 

Hannah, 23, explains:

A few weeks before I graduated from university, I went to a family wedding. Wearing a pink top and a flowery skirt, I felt self-conscious. I didn’t even want to think about the fact I’d gone over 18st. Throughout uni, I’d survived on a diet of fry ups and pizza. I’d get drunk, then go to a chippy and gorge. 

A few weeks later, it was my graduation. When I saw my graduation photo, I couldn’t believe how big I was. I should have been preparing for job interviews, ready to start my career, but there was no way I had that kind of confidence. I decided to take a year out and concentrate on losing weight.

I got a job at McDonalds to tide me over. My first uniform was ordered in a size 22. My goal was to lose 6st and I joined Slimming World - not for the first time, but this time I was ready to give it my all. 

At first, temptation was hard. It took me nearly two months to lose my first stone. But once I got into it, I learned to love food better. I learned to cook and not overdo my portions. I started enjoying the gym.

As the weight started to fall off, my manager got used to me knocking on his office door and requesting a new uniform. ‘What size are you going to be, because every time I order you a new uniform it’s too big!’ he laughed. I went through six sets of uniforms - going from a size 22 down to a 12. By the time I was a size 12, I could fit my whole body in the leg of my size 22s. When I gave all the uniforms back when I left, my manager just said: ‘wow!’

Wow was exactly how I felt too. 

I’d always been the biggest girl, at school, at uni, in the workplace. But something had clicked in my brain. I had a year without studying, without worry, just a target to reach and a determination never to go back to being the big girl.

I reached my goal in May 2019. Then, I returned to Uni to complete my masters. I left McDonalds and got a placement working in HR, ready to start my career. If I hadn’t lost weight, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to get myself out there and go through job interviews. I barely used to have the confidence to talk to anyone - now I’m a people person.

Some people take a year out to go travelling but this was what I needed to do. I didn’t find myself on a beach in Thailand - I found myself hiding inside the old me!