health

She lost 85kgs. And the Internet branded her a fake.

 

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.

Simone Before (Image: Facebook).

“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.

Simone After (Image: Facebook)

Her legion of loyal followers were thrilled. But sadly, many others had a different reaction. Pretscherer began to receive a lot of negative feedback.

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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.”

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So how did Pretscherer respond to her critics?

By giving them exactly what they wanted.

Simone shows her skin. (Image: Facebook)

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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