Cyber attack rocks council
Carer, 26, who drank 10 cans of Irn-Bru a day loses 6st 4lb after switching to sugar free
A CARER who drank 10 cans of Irn-Bru a day to cope after she lost her home and then her job has shed 6st 4lb – partly by switching to sugar-free.
Shannon Palmer, 26, has told how her life was turned “upside down” after her childhood home went up in flames, and she was made redundant the next day.
The fizzy pop addict fell into a “deep depression”, turning to takeaways and Irn-Bru for comfort.
She ballooned from a size 12 to a size 24, tipping the scales at 17st 4lb by the summer of 2017.
Shannon felt “afraid” to wear a bikini on a 2018 holiday in Spain – and vowed to transform her life.
Her Instagram page detailing her weight loss, @thelittlelifeofshazzap, has almost 30,000 followers.
Recalling the 2017 house fire, triggered by a tumble dryer explosion, she said: “I was heartbroken, we lost everything. All of my childhood disappeared. My
mum nearly died and I was made redundant the next day – after working there for four years.”
Bullied at school, fast food and fizzy drinks became a “refuge”. “I’m addicted to Irn-Bru,” she said.
“Mum wouldn’t let me drink it. I’d buy it on the way home from school and the obsession continued.”
Up to six takeaways a week came with depression. “Some people have drugs, drink, gambling – I had food,” she said. She would use two Spanx body-shapers to “suck” her fat in.
Introduced to Slimming World by her boyfriend’s sister, Shannon has now dropped to 11st.
The secret was not to give up Irn-Bru. “If I don’t have one I’ll start feeling funny and get a little angry,” she said. “It’s about moderation.”
Shannon, of Bradford, West Yorks, now feels the “best version of myself ”. And she felt “fantastic” in her bikini, again in Salou, Spain – a year after feeling ashamed.
“I get messages from people who want to know how I turned it around,” she said. “There’s a healthy, realistic way for any girl to feel confident, they don’t need to starve.”
A CYBER attack has left 135,000 residents without online public services.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council’s website and all computers were targeted in a suspected ransomware attack – in which files are scrambled until a ransom is paid.
Council leader Mary Lanigan, said: “Computers have been taken offline and systems are rebuilt.”