Woman who ‘ate her feelings’ and weighed 22 stone at heaviest loses size of ‘full-grown man’ in diet and exercise regime

A woman who “ate her feelings” and weighed 22 stone at her heaviest has got her life back after she lost the size of a “full-grown man” by following a diet and exercise regime.

Christina Togher, 31, from Castlebar in County Mayo, Ireland, suffers with anxiety and was “bullied severely” as a child, prompting her to turn to food as a way of dealing with her emotions.

The manager of a local coffee shop said she continued to gain weight throughout her late teens and early 20s, and at her heaviest, she tipped the scale at 22 stone (140kg) and wore a size XL to XXL in clothing.

After temporarily shedding the pounds while at university, where she dropped to 11 stone (70kg), Christina took a job as a chef which saw her “old habits come back hard” – and she gained 7st 12lbs (50kg) until she weighed 18st 12lbs (120kg) in March 2024.

As the prospect of turning 30 loomed over her, and Christina was struggling with “everyday tasks” due to her size, she decided to change her life for the better and enlist the help of a personal trainer.

From March 2024 to June this year, Christina lost 13st 7lbs (86kg) and she now weighs 8st 7lbs (54kg) thanks to a food plan and a consistent exercise routine, helping her to feel “so much happier” in herself.

“It’s crazy when you start putting numbers on it, it’s actually crazy to think that I’ve lost the weight of a full-grown man,” Christina told PA Real Life.

“If something’s bothering me, I now take it out in the gym instead of eating my feelings.

“I feel so much happier, I have more energy and I don’t hurt as much as I did.

“It’s all about consistency and showing up – keep showing up for you, your kids, your loved ones and know that change is possible.”

Christina said she has always been “a bigger person”.

“Even as a kid, I was that bit bigger and it stemmed from different issues,” Christina said.

“I suffer from anxiety, I was bullied severely as a kid because of my weight and I tended to eat my feelings.

“My weight made me feel so self-conscious but I didn’t deal with it.”

Christina said she continued to gain weight and at her heaviest, in her late teens and early 20s, she weighed 22 stone (140kg), wearing a size XL to XXL in clothing depending on the brand.

After trying different “fad diets” to no avail, Christina said she started to lose weight when she went to university in Ireland, where she studied accounting and finance for four years.

“I went down to a size 12 jeans, I dieted, I started exercising,” she said.

“I weighed around 11 stone (70kg) and that was my lowest weight at that point.”

After taking a job as a chef in County Mayo however, Christina said she “lost all (her) good habits”.

“I lost my love of walking and running and the old habits came back hard,” she said.

Christina said she would reach for “fast, convenience food”, such as takeaways, bread rolls, wraps and chocolate biscuits.

She then gained around 7st 12lbs (50kg) until she weighed 18st 12lbs (120kg) in March 2024.

Around this time, Christina said she “stopped going out”.

“I stopped wearing nice outfits and I was hiding in baggy clothes,” she said.

“I was in a really bad place mentally, and I went back to eating my emotions instead of dealing with them in a healthy way.”

At the prospect of turning 30 in July 2024, Christina said she realised she needed to address her problems.

“I was tired all the time and everything hurt – even a basic, everyday task, like walking up a flight of stairs, was such a struggle,” she said.

“I knew I didn’t want to hit my 30s, I didn’t want to hit that new decade, feeling this bad.”

Determined to change her life for the better, Christina started looking into local personal trainers – when her now-trainer, Nicky Kearney, walked into her place of work to get a coffee.

Thinking, ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’, Christina said she “bit the bullet” and reached out to him for help.

“Nicky went through it all with me – my lifestyle, my diet, my exercise routine,” she said.

“He made me realise that it wasn’t such a big thing in my head, that I’d made a mountain out of something that shouldn’t have been a mountain.”

For the next two months, Christina started increasing her step count by going out for long walks, and she focused on her diet by counting her calories and using a food plan.

Having always wanted to get into weightlifting, Christina joined a gym and her personal trainer created daily workout plans for her to follow – but she left her first session in tears.

“I walked in and I saw all these muscly people that were boxers, toned, skinny…” she said.

“In my head, I thought I looked so bad beside these people and I had to leave in tears.”

Christina reached out to Nicky for support and she plucked up the courage to return to the gym with her trainer in tow.

“Nicky got me to see that no one was actually watching me and everybody is in there for themselves,” Christina said, adding the revelation was “brilliant” for her confidence.

From March 2024 to June this year, Christina employed a razor-sharp focus to her diet and exercise plans.

She consistently lost 3lbs (1.4kg) every week, which “spurred (her) on to keep going”.

Christina now weighs 8st 7lbs (54kg).

From her heaviest, at 22 stone (140kg), she has lost 13st 7lbs (86kg).

According to the latest data from an NHS health survey for England, which was conducted in 2022, the average weight for an adult man was 85.8kg.

Christina now wears a size eight in jeans and a size XS or small in tops.

Describing a typical day’s worth of meals, Christina said she will now have an oat protein shake with fruit for breakfast, high-protein wraps with falafel for lunch and a mixture of proteins and vegetables for dinner.

“For me, it’s diet and exercise – I’m on a food plan so I meal-prep and it’s all calorie counted,” she said.

“I do weight training five days a week with two rest days, I do 30 minutes on the Stairmaster as my cardio and I get between 10,000 to 12,000 steps every day.”

Christina’s mental health has also improved.

“I look forward to the days where I can go to the gym and be in a world of my own, it’s just me time,” she said.

Christina said she is now friends with the boxers and bodybuilders from her gym, she wears clothes she never used to and she reaches for fruit or rice cakes instead of unhealthy snacks.

She has also reduced her caffeine intake, she said takeaways are “few and far between” and she has stopped drinking alcohol – only having a drink once or twice a year.

She added: “I’ve repaired my relationship with food and I’ve fallen in love with exercise – I now know how to maintain this lifestyle in a healthy way.”

As a result of her mammoth weight loss, Christina said she has been left with excess skin, especially around her stomach and arms.

She is now hoping to receive skin removal surgery in Dublin and her personal trainer has launched a GoFundMe page to help her reach the required costs at an estimated 10,000 euros (£8,819).

As the surgery is for cosmetic purposes, it is not available on the public health system in Ireland.

“It would mean so much to get the surgery because it’s the last thing that makes me self-conscious,” Christina said.

“It would make me feel beautiful again.”

To find out more, visit the GoFundMe page for Christina here: gofundme.com/f/9mrj9q-help-pay-for-surgery