Woman Who Has Yo-Yo Dieted Since Childhood Has Now Lost Quarter Of Her Body Weight

By Liana Jacob

MEET the British nanny with a fashion model sister who has been yo-yo dieting since childhood because of bullies but has now stayed at a healthy weight after losing a quarter of her body weight.

Nanny and children’s activities assistant, Aisha Bearn (22), from Oxford, UK, has always been very self-conscious about her weight even from a young age due to being taunted by peers about being ‘overweight’.

Her biggest role model is her fashion model sister, Zabeena Hackett, and being presented with society’s ‘ideal’ body shape led her to over-exercise when she was 18 and Aisha ended up shrinking to 8st 14Ibs and a UK size six to eight.

However, entering student life resulted in her having a poor diet, binge-drinking and doing very little exercise in 2014, reaching her peak weight of 13st 5Ibs and a UK size 12 to 14.

Since then she has developed a new perspective and seeing how her weight has affected her ability to work, Aisha decided to get fit and healthy again. She is now a slender 10st 3Ibs and a UK size 10 to 12.

“I’ve literally had every type of body. I’ve been relatively lean, overweight and now I think I’m currently sitting in the middle somewhere,” she said.

“When I was at prep school I was definitely overweight and when I went to secondary school I lost a lot of weight.

“Towards the end of secondary school, I was probably verging on looking too lean – this was because of a bad relationship with food, over exercising and the stress of exams.

“When I went to university, I became overweight again because of a poor diet, lots of binge-drinking and very little exercise.

“I also got into a toxic relationship after freshers and when it ended after three years, I was quite depressed.

“My figure changes so much because of stress but currently my main aim is just the need to feel confident in my own skin.

“To be honest, I do primarily exercise for aesthetic reasons but it’s also to do with being a full-time nanny, I have to be able to stay fit and healthy so that I can do my job properly and keep up with the little monkeys.

“Now I’m eating relatively well, although I still like chocolates and sweets but I think I’ve begun to understand the concept of balance.”

Aisha has now committed herself to work out four to six times a week.

“Getting to the point I’m in now, I’ve just decided that I would commit about an hour each day where I would go to the gym,” she said.

“I make sure I hit my step goals on my watch as well every day. I try to eat as healthy as possible, but I know that if I want a chocolate bar, I’m going to eat it and it won’t make me ‘fat’.

“The key thing I’ve taken away from this journey is that if I buy bad food then I’m going to eat bad food and if my body wants to have chocolate or sweets it won’t ruin all my success or disrupt my fitness journey. Balance is the most important thing.

“I think that without being fit and healthy, I definitely couldn’t do the job I’m doing as a nanny, because there are long hours and you don’t really get a chance to chill out when you’re looking after children.

“I also think getting into the fitness world has been educational for me; like learning about different ways to train your body.

“I feel a lot better about myself but I have always struggled with being ridiculously shy and being very self-conscious.

“There’s a part of me that worries that it won’t be possible because we are always striving for ‘perfection’.

“Hitting a plateau is the toughest part because you start doubting what you’re doing and then I usually end up binging or going completely off the rails for a few weeks.

“The best thing to do when this happens is to switch up your training and your diet. I like to do some classes or do a different form of exercise when this happens, or even try a personal trainer for a week. This helps me to snap out of it.

“I work for two lovely families and I do think they like the fact I am fit and healthy. As, obviously, it means I have enough energy to look after the children.

“Also, I think it’s good the children know I exercise a lot and eat well. I think it sets a good role model for them.

“The worst part of the job is when people judge me or heckle me in front of the children. For example, the other day when I was getting petrol, I was wearing nude leggings and an elderly lady looked me up and down and called me disgusting.

“I didn’t react because I was shocked. Obviously because I respect my elders and I don’t expect to be spoken like that by anyone.

“I’ve been called a ‘big batty girl’ in front of the children. I’ve also been whistled, beeped at and someone actually stopped their car on a dual carriageway to get out of their car when I was waiting at the bus stop, just to ask me if my bum was real.

“I get quite a lot of messages from girls and guys asking how I’ve done it and telling me how good I look – not meaning to sound big headed.

“But it’s a bit surreal for me because I still don’t one-hundred percent think I look good or should be someone to aspire to be.

“It’s obviously nice to hear nice things about the way I look, but it is just so surreal to have people look up to you.”

For more information visit: https://www.instagram.com/aishabearn/