A woman who dropped four dress sizes looks so unrecognisable strangers accused her of getting facial reconstruction.
Chloe Boullé, 23, started to struggle with her weight and binge eating when she got her first job at a bakery as a teen.
Growing up the family only had healthy food in the house so Chloe was “excited” by the choices “available” to her when she hit her teens.
She spiralled into an unhealthy cycle of binge eating followed by a restrictive diet for four years and weighed 13st 12lbs and was a size 16 at her heaviest.
Chloe finally realised her relationship with food and her body was unhealthy and threw out all the scales in her house and started intuitively eating - eating based on hunger cues - in May 2023.
Now a healthier 10st 3lbs and a slender size eight, Chloe says she looks so "unrecognisable" strangers accuse of her of getting facial reconstruction.
Chloe, a content creator and part-time child care support worker, from Brisbane, Australia, said: "People from high school bump into me and no one knows who I am when I say hello.
"I remember my grandmother saying 'you're just unrecognisable Chloe'.
"People online accused me of having facial reconstruction.
"It never bothered me.
"I feel strong now.
"I absolutely love myself."
Chloe grew up in a single parent household - believing food was scarce.
She said: "Growing up we ate healthy as that was the most affordable.
"Food was something to be desired.
"I started working in a bakery and that was when I first started to binge.
"It was so exciting. There was so much food available to me."
Chloe filled up on pastries and pies and slowly the weight crept on. She reached 13st 12lbs at the age of 15.
She said: "I didn't understand what was happening.
"I didn't have much desire to look good."
Chloe decided she wanted to lose weight when her 18th birthday approached but to do so she completely restricted her diet.
She said: "My goal was to be as nauseous as possible from the gym that I wouldn't want dinner."
Chloe managed to drop the weight but began a period of a "toxic cycle" of binge eating and restricting.
She said: "I thought I would never escape.
"I tried all the diets - Keto and fasting.
"I'd be consistent for three to four weeks and then I'd snap back."
Chloe reached breaking point when she realised she'd developed an eating disorder and needed to do something about her relationship with food.
She said: "I was crying on my bathroom floor.
"I thought 'I can't live my life this way.'"
Chloe started to research eating intuitively and listened to her bodies cravings.
She said: "I learnt to eat intuitively.
"I learnt to read my hunger cues.
"I had such emotional ties to food."
Although Chloe decided to throw all of her scales out and not weight herself she believes she sits around 10st 3lbs.
She said: "I removed the scales from my house. I used to step on the scales every day and if I hadn't lost weight I'd feel I'd failed."
Chloe said her family have seen a massive change in her physically and mentally and says her partner, Jovahn, 25, a cook, has been "so supportive".
She said: "I don't view that person as me anymore."
Chloe's face has changed dramatically since losing weight over the years - which she puts down the her lifestyle changes and Gua Sha - and alternative therapy to improve circulation using a massage tool.
She also practices meditation and goes to a 5am reformer pilates class five to six times a week.
Chloe said: "Exercise is now a celebration of what my body can do rather than a punishment.
"I feel alive."
Before weight: 13st 12lbs
Before size: 14/16
Diet before
Breakfast: Three bowels of cereal / four pieces of Nutella toast
Lunch: Pie or sausage roll
Dinner: Takeaways such as taco bell
Now weight: 10st 3lbs
Now size: 8
Diet after
Breakfast: Protein oats with blueberries
Lunch: Salads with plant based chicken
Dinner: Taco bowl / vegetarian lasagne
Chloe Boullé, 23, started to struggle with her weight and binge eating when she got her first job at a bakery as a teen.
Growing up the family only had healthy food in the house so Chloe was “excited” by the choices “available” to her when she hit her teens.
She spiralled into an unhealthy cycle of binge eating followed by a restrictive diet for four years and weighed 13st 12lbs and was a size 16 at her heaviest.
Chloe finally realised her relationship with food and her body was unhealthy and threw out all the scales in her house and started intuitively eating - eating based on hunger cues - in May 2023.
Now a healthier 10st 3lbs and a slender size eight, Chloe says she looks so "unrecognisable" strangers accuse of her of getting facial reconstruction.
Chloe, a content creator and part-time child care support worker, from Brisbane, Australia, said: "People from high school bump into me and no one knows who I am when I say hello.
"I remember my grandmother saying 'you're just unrecognisable Chloe'.
"People online accused me of having facial reconstruction.
"It never bothered me.
"I feel strong now.
"I absolutely love myself."
Chloe grew up in a single parent household - believing food was scarce.
She said: "Growing up we ate healthy as that was the most affordable.
"Food was something to be desired.
"I started working in a bakery and that was when I first started to binge.
"It was so exciting. There was so much food available to me."
Chloe filled up on pastries and pies and slowly the weight crept on. She reached 13st 12lbs at the age of 15.
She said: "I didn't understand what was happening.
"I didn't have much desire to look good."
Chloe decided she wanted to lose weight when her 18th birthday approached but to do so she completely restricted her diet.
She said: "My goal was to be as nauseous as possible from the gym that I wouldn't want dinner."
Chloe managed to drop the weight but began a period of a "toxic cycle" of binge eating and restricting.
She said: "I thought I would never escape.
"I tried all the diets - Keto and fasting.
"I'd be consistent for three to four weeks and then I'd snap back."
Chloe reached breaking point when she realised she'd developed an eating disorder and needed to do something about her relationship with food.
She said: "I was crying on my bathroom floor.
"I thought 'I can't live my life this way.'"
Chloe started to research eating intuitively and listened to her bodies cravings.
She said: "I learnt to eat intuitively.
"I learnt to read my hunger cues.
"I had such emotional ties to food."
Although Chloe decided to throw all of her scales out and not weight herself she believes she sits around 10st 3lbs.
She said: "I removed the scales from my house. I used to step on the scales every day and if I hadn't lost weight I'd feel I'd failed."
Chloe said her family have seen a massive change in her physically and mentally and says her partner, Jovahn, 25, a cook, has been "so supportive".
She said: "I don't view that person as me anymore."
Chloe's face has changed dramatically since losing weight over the years - which she puts down the her lifestyle changes and Gua Sha - and alternative therapy to improve circulation using a massage tool.
She also practices meditation and goes to a 5am reformer pilates class five to six times a week.
Chloe said: "Exercise is now a celebration of what my body can do rather than a punishment.
"I feel alive."
Before weight: 13st 12lbs
Before size: 14/16
Diet before
Breakfast: Three bowels of cereal / four pieces of Nutella toast
Lunch: Pie or sausage roll
Dinner: Takeaways such as taco bell
Now weight: 10st 3lbs
Now size: 8
Diet after
Breakfast: Protein oats with blueberries
Lunch: Salads with plant based chicken
Dinner: Taco bowl / vegetarian lasagne
Category
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Fun