Man Who Attempted Suicide Over Weight Shame Lost 12 Stone By Exercising In The DARK

A young man who attempted suicide because of his 26-stone frame has completely transformed his body, shedding 12 stone when no one was watching.

Dubbed ‘Jabba the Hutt’ by bullies when he was 18, Nathan Priestley says the embarrassment of his oversized frame made him so depressed he refused to leave his home for a year and even attempted suicide.

But after surviving a drug overdose, Nathan, now 21, decided to turn his life around and began exercising – in the dark. He would run the streets in the dead of night or use the local gym’s treadmill after hours with the lights turned off so people wouldn't see him.

After 12 months he started using weights to tone his slimmed-down figure and has now landed a job as a personal trainer.

Nathan, from Norfolk, said: ‘I was always overweight as a kid and as I grew up the bullying contributed to that because I tended to comfort eat.

‘Others would throw sweets at me when I was on the bus and call me 'fatty', 'fat mess' and 'Jabba the Hutt’.’

He now plans to enter body building competitions to illustrate his ‘complete transformation’.

Nathan said: ‘I just want to show that it is possible to achieve what you want and it is never too late to get to where we want to be in life.

‘It has helped my self confidence. I am single but I do get attention from girls that I obviously wouldn't have got before.

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‘I am so much happier now and my life at the moment has completely changed around from where it was three years ago.

‘I wanted to show the people that bullied and harassed me that no matter how hard they beat me down I will achieve more than them.

He added: ‘If you're unhappy with yourself, nothing is impossible and you should follow your dreams to become the absolute best version of yourself.’