A plus-sized influencer who spread body positivity online has revealed that, behind the scenes, she was dealing with immense pain and had to use a walking stick before undergoing a weight loss journey. 

Emily Jones, 36, from London, who tipped the scales at her heaviest at 21st 12lbs, said she’d always been conscious of her weight and was brought up to watch what she ate.

But as she got older, Emily started piling on the pounds from going out and secretly eating junk food, including meals from McDonald’s.

Around the same time, she started suffering from health issues that required her to take steroids, which left Emily ‘absolutely ravenous’, and saw her gorging on more convenience foods and gaining even more weight.

The Fashionova curve ambassador flaunted her curves online but was secretly suffering from pain and limited mobility, relying on a walking stick and a blue badge.

Emily’s painful circumstances were exacerbated by her rheumatoid arthritis and lipoedema, a condition where fat distributes disproportionately often around the legs and hips.

Given her declining health and her feelings of helplessness when it came to shifting the weight through diet and exercise, the 5ft 6in content creator researched weight-loss surgery in Malta. 

She took the plunge and booked the £6,000 gastric bypass surgery for January 2024.

Emily Jones, 36, from London, dropped from a size 24 to a size eight after undergoing a gastric surgery in January 2024

The content creator and model decided to undergo bypass surgery in Malta after years of yo-yo dieting – and she’s not looked back since

In the two years since, Emily has lost 12st 5lbs, and now weighs 9st 7lbs – slimming down from a size 24 to a size eight.

Striking photos show Emily’s transformation and her old passport photo, where she almost looks like a different person.

Emily said: ‘I’ve put up a few posts [on social media] where I’m showing my journey, showing where I was and where I am now.

‘People will say “Oh my goodness I don’t recognise you from the first clip”.

‘That feels really strange because I do very much see myself as the same person and I also struggle sometimes with feeling a bit sad with the reaction that gets as well.

‘It has happened a couple of times where I have been flying in my new body with my old passport.

‘The guy at border security said to me “It’s just really strange because it doesn’t look like you”.

‘I said “Oh yeah I have lost some weight” and he said “Oh I can see that, you look like a completely different person”.’

Emily gained weight from going out and secretly dining out on junk food, including meals from McDonald’s

The Fashionova curve ambassador was secretly suffering from pain and limited mobility, which often forced her to rely on a walking stick

Pictured: Emily before heading into her £6,000 gastric bypass surgery in Malta in January 2024

Before signing up for surgery, Emily yo-yo dieted over the years, and said she lost and gained the same 3st until eventually deciding to book weight-loss surgery.

Emily said: ‘I was so limited in my mobility and I was also in pain and also taking all of these horrible medications, including steroids for a very long time.

‘It increased my appetite and when you go on steroid medication you do have this hunger it makes you absolutely ravenous.

‘It just spiralled into bad habits and I felt very helpless and hopeless.

‘I would say my biggest problem was fast food, everything really, [including] McDonald’s drive through.

‘I was in a constant cycle of trying to diet and eat a little bit less.

‘I would lose 20 kilos […] but 20 kilos when you are overweight doesn’t make that much of a dent in what you’re wanting to lose.

‘Then all of a sudden I would feel disheartened because I had such a long way to go.

Now, airport security has become difficult for Emily because she doesn’t look like her passport picture

At her heaviest weight, the body positivity content creator and model tipped the scales at 21st 12lbs

Despite losing weight, Emily said her mental health now suffers due to the amount of loose skin left on her body

After undergoing the gastric bypass procedure, Emily says that she now has more energy and her pain is reduced

‘I would give up on the whole thing and just say “sod it then” and I would be back to some old habits.’

After her astonishing weight loss, Emily says she now has reduced pain and more energy.

Emily said: ‘I definitely feel like I’ve got way more energy and my pain is controlled a lot better, so that’s been absolutely life-changing for me.

‘After I lost 30 kilos [3st] I already felt like “Wow this is crazy this would’ve taken me three times the amount of time”.

‘It felt quite motivating because that would normally come off so slowly, it would be like half a pound every week and I would just feel I was banging my head against a brick wall.

‘It’s super easy for me to shop for clothes these days. I just walk in and pick anything off the shelf, and it fits and that is something I have really never experienced before.’

Despite being thrilled with her weight from a health perspective, Emily admitted that she now has other body confidence issues.

Emily said: ‘A lot of my content at the time was based around body confidence at any size and trying to empower other plus-sized people.

‘Now I have other issues. If you have issues with body image the surgery can exacerbate them, it can be very confusing to see yourself looking so different.

‘I’ve been left with an awful lot of loose skin, I don’t think people realise the amount of impact it can have on your mental health.’

Her transformation has proved controversial online, with Emily saying that she’s received both praise and criticism.

Emily said: ‘I’ve had tons of negativity and I think everyday it reminds me more and more, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

‘Within the same millisecond I will get one comment being like “Oh my goodness I can’t believe this you look absolutely incredible, wow, well done”.

‘Then, on the other hand, I’ll get another message saying “Oh my God I can’t believe you have done this to yourself. You were so nice before, what have you done?”

‘You definitely can’t win so the message with that has to simply be just do what is best for you and hope that the community that resonates will be there.’