She had to take a picture to prove that she wasn’t lying.
Simone Pretscherer is a 24-year-old woman from Auckland, New Zealand. She is a make-up artist. And in less than a year, she has lost half her body weight.
Only 11 months ago, Pretscherer weighed 169kg.
She told News.com.au the transformation was not inspired by emotional or appearance-based goals, and that she “was always a very confident, bubbly, outgoing person.” She was more motivated by her health.
“I had no pressing health issues,” she told News.com.au, “but it was getting harder and harder to do day-to-day things. Even bringing in the garbage bin up our very steep driveway was difficult and that’s when it hit me that something needed to change.”
And change she did.
In the beginning, she started with swimming as it was easier on her joints, and now exercises every day. Pretscherer takes part in classes such as boxing and body attack, and plays for two different netball teams.
Pretscherer said on Facebook she has undergone gastric sleeve surgery in order to control her portion sizes. This, in combination with exercise, limiting of processed foods, and the support of her online followers, helped Simone reached her goal weight.
Her legion of loyal followers were thrilled. But sadly, many others had a different reaction. Pretscherer began to receive a lot of negative feedback.