I LOST 11 STONE - AND STRANGERS ARE MUCH MORE POLITE TO ME NOW

• Issy Montgomery, 24, from Grimsby, opened up about how 'skinny privilege'
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A woman who lost 11 stone - and went from a size 32 to a size 14 - has revealed how differently she's treated now that she has a smaller physique.

Issy Montgomery, 24, opened up about how 'skinny privilege' meant there are some 'basic things' - like strangers smiling at you or holding the door open - which she wasn't privy to before undergoing weight loss surgeries.

The e-commerce and social media manager, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, admitted that while getting in shape has 'changed her life' and bettered her health, 'it's a bit sad' that people weren't willing to offer her the same curtsies when she was a different size.

She explained that she had always been 'big', but found herself putting on weight during lockdown, and reaching 24st 11lbs.

Issy had always struggled with yo-yo dieting and couldn't find anything that worked for her.

But when she changed up her diet and looked into weight loss surgery, she got a gastric sleeve in September 2022 - on the NHS.

She got down to 15st and later went for a revised bypass in March 2024. Now, Issy has lost 11st 10lbs. 

She currently weighs 13st 1lbs - and was 'quite shocked that people who wouldn't have entertained her before have popped up'. 

'It's basic things - someone holding the door open,' the young woman explained. 'People smiling at you.

'I feel I get treated differently. When you've been big you realise you don't have the same experience.'

Issy says she's the 'exact same person' now and 'still treats people the same'.  

'I want someone to like me for me not for what I look like,' she continued. 'People say you're thinner now - must get more attention.'

'It's a bit sad,' Issy continued, questioning why her older figure wasn't 'worthy of the same'.

She added that while everyone is entitled to a preference, it's 'crazy how different people treat you being smaller'.

Issy also opened up about feeling that she's been 'given a second chance of life' following her weight loss.

She realised she needed to do something for her health when she couldn't walk up the stairs without getting breathless.

'It was embarrassing to be so young and so unfit,' she revealed. 'It was very overwhelming to lose so much weight.'

She had previously tried various different diets but never found anything that worked.

Issy was put on a clinical trial for weight loss jab Saxenda at the end of 2021 and lost two stone - taking her to 18st 11lbs for her surgery. She underwent gastric sleeve surgery in September 2022 - saying that her 'life changed' after the procedure. 

She had 'got her life back', stuck to a healthy diet of home-cooked meals and started to hit the gym.

But after hitting 15st she found she struggled to shed anymore weight - which was 'really frustrating'. 

'I was told they surgically needed to go in again,' she explained.

And in March, Issy had her sleeve revised into a bypass - which means she can't absorb as many calories.

'I lost 8lbs in the first week,' she recalled.

Issy is now on track to reach her 10st 7lbs goal and is also hoping to go to Turkey for skin removal surgery.

She admitted strangers have slammed her for taking the 'easy way out' by getting weight loss surgery - but says she faces her own 'different set of difficulties' after the procedures.

'This is the easiest I have been able to lose weight but it's not the easiest way to do it,' she added.

'If I have one extra mouthful - it's physically painful.'

Issy posts about her weight loss journey on Instagram and TikTok @Losing_with_is.