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.
Click through for a gallery of Simone’s incredible transformation… (Post continues after gallery)
Her transformation is truly staggering, and she is to be commended for it. But it does come with one draw back. A weight-loss as dramatic is Pretscherer’s results in an increase of loose skin. Funnily enough, it wasn’t her skin that caused the backlash, rather- the absence of it.
“Sorry but that’s not the same person … One, where has the extra skin gone which you would have and two your [sic] hiding your face with phone. Sorry people but it’s true”.
“Two different girls sorry who you kidding?”
“Fake in every way, some people believe anything …”
Theses are just some of the comments Pretscherer received.
“They said, ‘There’s no way that’s the same person.” She told News.com.au. “‘She doesn’t have any stretch marks or loose skin’. Obviously I do, I just didn’t think to show all of my loose skin in every post I put online.”
“I don’t know why, but every single comment that called me out for being fake and a liar really bothered me far more than it should,” Pretscherer posted on her Facebook. “I think it’s because it took hours of crying and debating whether to share my story online and for others to see, posting the first picture online along with my weight for the world to see what the hardest thing I have ever done.”
So how did Pretscherer respond to her critics?
By giving them exactly what they wanted.
The positivity flowed in response to Pretscherer’s courageous posting. “There were only two negative comments on that post,” she told News.com.au.
Pretscherer was inspired by her followers to raise money for skin removal surgery. “My followers told me they wanted to donate and asked me to set up a fundraising page. I was really hesitant at first, but I did” she said.
I am absolutely blown away by your generosity, after a post I did a few months ago showing my loose skin (which is the…
Posted by Simone’s Journey to Health on Monday, 13 July 2015
It is absolutely fantastic that Pretscherer has received such positive feedback this time around, and that she had the confidence to post the photos, and work towards her next goal.
But isn’t it just a little bit sad that she felt the need to ‘prove’ herself in the first place?
Click through for a gallery of celebrity transformations…
Has Internet fakery become so common place that we’re not willing to trust people anymore?
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Man tells woman, “You really need to f*cking lose weight.” Women’s response is perfection.
After such a dramatic weight loss, there was something Matt Diaz needed to share.
Top Comments
"Through good old fashioned hard work, a combination of diet (...) and exercise.." AND gastric sleeve surgery. Let's try not to be misleading, it certainly doesn't diminish her effort but is a crucial part of her story.
Actually a huge amount of effort goes into gastric sleeve surgery; it changes your whole eating lifestyle. Someone I love dearly had this surgery and it is life-altering, and not in any way an automatic or "easy" weight loss solution. It assists with the weight loss for obesity when all other methods and diets may have failed, but it isn't a magic pill by any stretch of the imagination. My loved one still has to work just as hard at the good old-fashioned diet and exercise and her weight loss plateaus and stops just like anyone else's. The only difference is, she can no longer eat many food she once loved (even as a sometimes treat) such as rice or steak, and she suffers discomfit, digestive issues, reflux, oesophgeal issues.
But you're right, it doesn't diminish her effort or success at all. Let's leave it at that, and stop the subtle judging.
I know. I had the surgery myself 6 months ago and have worked hard (eating well, exercising and plateaus included) to change my life and lose 42kgs (17 to go). But it is important to acknowlege that your friend, the woman in the article and myself could not lose that amount of weight in that amount of time without the "tool" of surgery. It is misleading to leave such a crucial and relevent fact out of the article. There was no judging, subtle or otherwise, just someone speaking from experience because if I had read that article as my former self and not known about the surgery part of it, it would have been another way to see myself as a failure in terms of my own weight loss struggles.
Well, she did mention so what's your point?
The article has clearly been edited to include the information. Obviously it was not there in the original version otherwise I wouldn't have commented. But thanks for bringing it to my attention and have a lovely day. :)
I don't want to diminish her sucess, (and in no way do I think gastric bypass or gastric sleeves are easy - because they are not and come with their own diets, eating restrictions and side effects), but it should be reported that Simone lost the weight with a combination of diet, exercise and bariatric surgery.
There is evidence to her commitment to exercise and clean eating in her arms and legs where she has almost no skin laxity despite the rapid weight loss.
It is reported!