Childhood Days
Diane Frick was born to an average, middle-class family in Melbourne, Australia. In spite of the fact that she had two loving parents, not everything was a bed of roses for this little young girl.
The thing is, Diane used to be a rather chubby kid back in her middle school years and her classmates would always bully her around because of her size. "The bullies in school made my life hell and I’d get called fat and ugly every day", she remembers.
Bullying At School
Diane would be called all sorts of names because of her size. Apart from calling her "piggy", they would constantly tease her because of her pimps and frizzy hair.
As time went by, the bullying only got worse. It wasn't long before the whole class started fat-shaming her by coming up with all sorts of degrading songs. "They made songs about me and sing that I was ‘fat to the bone’ to the tune of ‘bad to the bone’", she told Daily Mirror.
Eating Disorders
Actually, Diane was never massively overweight, neither as a child nor as an adult. However, the bullying she faced had devastating effects on her self-esteem. "I felt I wasn’t good enough for anyone to be friends with", she confessed.
The constant bullying she endured eventually triggered poor eating habits, too. Even though the bullying stopped once she graduated from high school, her eating disorders and her periodic depressions went on. But until when?
Behavioral Therapy
The abuse that Diane faced at school was so psychologically traumatizing, that she eventually resorted to therapy in order to cope with her self-esteem and body image issues.
"The scars from the abuse never left me. I would beat myself up for not looking how I wanted to my whole life. I had to do a lot of cognitive behavioral therapy to overcome all the negative self-talk", Diane admitted. But did the therapy work?
Something Clicked
It wasn't until five years into therapy that Diane started feeling more confident with her own body. One day, however, just as she was looking at bikini model competitions on Instagram, something inside her just clicked.
After watching those videos of bikini models, she suddenly became inspired to become one herself. But how would she pursue that goal, exactly? Slide next and find out!
New Lifestyle
Feeling confident, Diane set out in pursuit of her new goal by modifying her diet, cutting off fast food, sugary products, processed meals, and alcohol.
One step at a time, she began losing weight and crafting the body she had always dreamed of. But if she wanted to make it into any of those tournaments she had seen on Instagram, she would also need to start training...
Time For Training
As Diane started googling all the bikini models she wanted to be like, she found out that most of them were also bodybuilders. After doing some research, she landed on a coach who specifically trained bikini competitors.
"He’d said in a post if you want to look like an athlete you have to train like an athlete and it really resonated with me", she recalls. But how did she cope with her new strict training routine?
Body Transformation
In no time, running and weight-lifting became Diane's new passions. "I absolutely loved the training and the structure to my diet. The changes in my body and strength came thick and fast", she shared.
By June 2019, barely six months since the beginning of her training, Diane's body had already radically changed. Can you guess how much weight she lost all in all?
Weight Loss
By July 2019, Diane had already lost nearly 18 pounds (8 kg) and dropped three clothing sizes. Not too bad for less than a year's training!
On top of that, she went from having 34.7% of body fat to only 12%. And guess what? In October, she was accepted to her first bodybuilding competition. But this isn't even the best part!
Bikini Champion
Not only did she manage to get a rock-hard 6-pack in a matter of months, but she also nailed it in her first official bodybuilding competition!
To everyone's surprise, Diane was crowned Bikini Champion at Australia's 2019 International Natural Bodybuilding Association event. Beat that!
Newfound Confidence
Not only did Diane change physically, but mentally, too. "I never imagined I could be proud of my body. I would always wear clothes that covered everything and was so hateful and ashamed of myself", she said.
"So for that bullied girl to transform, not only physically but mentally, and be able to stand on stage in a bikini and ask professionals to judge her body is massive", she added. But what is she up to now?
More Radiant Than Ever
As her 38th birthday approaches, Diane feels stronger and more confident than ever. In fact, she feels she looks younger now than she did in her early 20s!
"I look so much younger now than I did before and people comment on it anytime they find out my age", she said. Just take a look at her pictures, the woman's gotta point!
Raising Awareness
Satisfied with her new lifestyle, Diane keeps on weight-training to this day. On top of that, she also tries to raise awareness on the detrimental psychological and emotional effects of bullying on kids.
"Going through what I did in school has given me a huge amount of empathy for kids who are bullied", she said. It speaks well of her that she's become the role model for dozens of kids facing similar hardships.
The Story Of A Woman Who Beat Anorexia
Even though Diane went through some pretty rough times, she managed to overcome the obstacles and turn her weakness into strength. "It’s true that sometimes you need to be destroyed to rebuilt stronger", she said.
But Diane isn't the first nor the last one to overcome her hardships and become a strong, confident woman. Up next, an equally inspiring story of an anorexic woman bullied at school who underwent a radical transformation. Don't miss it!
Anorexia
Born and raised in Plymouth, Emma Jane-Corry started facing bullying at school when she was only seven years old. Unwilling to keep on putting up with it, she switched schools after turning 13.
Unfortunately, the bullying she went through left her deep emotional scars and triggered serious eating disorders. The way she saw it, the prettier and skinnier she looked, the higher the chance of being accepted by her new schoolmates would be. This is how she started suffering from anorexia.
Health Issues
In Emma's own words, restricting her diet would make her feel she was in control. "I was obsessed with my weight, I used the scales as a way of control", she admitted.
It was only a matter of time before her eating disorder started taking a major toll on her health. However, no matter what the doctors told her, she seemed utterly unwilling to switch back to a normal, healthy diet. In fact, it wasn't until 20 years later that she finally started to tackle her disease.
Radical Lifestyle Change
When she reached her mid-30s, after battling anorexia for 23 years, Emma finally decided to change her lifestyle. She went back to eating foods rich in proteins and started working out on a regular basis.
It wasn't long before she grew passionate about weight-lifting and started training to enter bodybuilding competitions. As if this weren't enough, she also stopped eating meat and became a vegan. But was her next step?
Bodybuilding Champion
Just like Diane, Emma entered her first bodybuilding competition only a year after having started her diet. To everyone's surprise, she came out first!
Her whopping success gave her the strength to sign up for other competitions, and before she knew it, she was one of the town's most well-known athletes! Who would've thought?
Healthy Body
To be honest, Emma doesn't look like the typical bodybuilder, but that's because she competes in the so-called toned category, which focuses on natural-looking bodies.
In other words, people who compete in that category aren't meant to have overly pronounced muscles. "It looks like you go to the gym but not too much. It is all about being healthy", she explained.
Go Green
According to Emma, she owes her success both to her vegan diet as well as to her talented trainer, Rhiannon Armstrong. "Rhiannon is amazing and does all my hair and makeup before events", she shared.
Her fans are often shocked once they find out that she managed to pull of such a physique by sticking to a strict veg diet. "People assume that there is not a lot to eat but I have a wide range of healthy food. I eat a lot of tofu, beans, lentils, chickpeas along with nuts and seeds", Emma pointed out. But what is she up to now?
Role Model
Proud of the radical physical and mental transformation she's gone through, Emma wants to help others to improve their lives just as she did.
With this aim in mind, she's currently training all sorts of people, from Olympic athletes to random clients that want to grow fitter. Hopefully, her students will grow up to be just like her: confident, resilient, and charismatic!