"I have 'skinny privilege' after losing 11 stone - strangers treat me differently"

A woman who lost 11 stone after two weight loss surgeries says she has 'skinny privilege' now she is smaller - and strangers treat her differently.

Issy Montgomery, 24, had always been “big” but found herself piling on the weight during lockdown and was soon tipping the scales at 24st 11lbs and bursting out of a size 32.

She had always struggled with yo-yo dieting and couldn’t find anything that worked for her when it came to keeping the weight off.

Issy changed up her diet and looked into weight loss surgery and had a gastric sleeve in September 2022 on the NHS.

She got down to 15st but couldn’t budge the rest of the weight no matter how hard she tried – and went for a revised bypass in March 2024.

Now Issy has lost 11st 10lbs and is a slender 13st 1lbs and can slip into a size 14 but has realised how differently she is being treated.

She said people now hold the door open for her and smile at her and they hadn’t before - so she believes she now has 'skinny privilege'.

Issy, an e-commerce and social media manager, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, said: "It's basic things - someone holding the door open. People smiling at you.

"I feel I get treated differently.

"When you’ve been big you realise you don’t have the same experience.

"I was quite shocked that people before wouldn't have entertained me before have popped up.

"I'm the exact same person. I still treat people the same.

"I want someone to like me for me not for what I look like.

"People say you're thinner now - must get more attention.

"It's a bit sad. Why wasn't she worthy of the same?

"But everyone has a preference and everyone is entitled to that.

"It's crazy how different people treat you being smaller.

"I feel I've been given a second chance of life."

Issy realised she needed to do something about her weight when she couldn't walk up the stairs without getting breathless.

She confessed she was "lazy" and "greedy" and would snack on crisps, biscuits and chocolate at any chance she got.

She said: "I was greedy. I liked my food.

"It was embarrassing to be so young and so unfit.

"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.

She said: "It was brilliant. My life changed."

Issy "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 shed anymore weight.

She said: "It was really frustrating.

"I was told they surgically needed to go in again."

In March 2024 Issy had her sleeve revised into a bypass - which means she can't absorb as many calories.

She said: "I lost 8lbs in the first week."

Now Issy is already down to 13st 1lbs and is on track to reach her 10st 7lbs goal.