Jonathan’s fight with obesity nearly led to suicide

A Carlisle man has written of how he was driven to the brink of suicide by childhood obesity – and how he battled to overcome it.

At  the age of 15, Jonathan Scott now 23, weighed more than 19 stone. Tormented and bullied at school, it wasn’t until he reached rock bottom that he gathered the strength to turn his life around.

In his new book, ‘Off The Scales’, he describes how he found himself standing in the bathroom, holding a bottle of prescription painkillers.

He had planned to take his own life by swallowing them all. But reading his dad’s name on the label, he realised his death would only hurt those who loved him. Instead, with a programme of diet and exercise, he managed to shed almost half his body weight.

He explains: “I think I’ve overcome so much, in terms of the past. I’ve been involved in working with childhood obesity – and listening to what people are going through, I’ve thought: ‘That’s exactly the position I was in’.”

Now a male model and fitness instructor, Jonathan works in London for child weight loss programme MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it). He hopes the book will inspire children and parents to tackle the obesity epidemic.

He added: “People kept asking me for advice and I thought it would be fantastic if I could share my experience and my ideas. One of the most important things was that you should really open up, that there are people around you who can support you. I suffered in silence for so long, and it nearly came to a tragic end.”

Thanks to the support of his family, he lost more than seven stone in 18 months. But it wasn’t just a challenge for him – the experience was a real struggle for his mum.

Jonathan adds; “She didn’t have any real experience about nutrition and getting active. She was really concerned that she was being a bad parent by letting me put on weight – but she was just doing what made me happy at the time.”

Jonathan’s book is divided into two sections. The first tells the story of his dramatic weight loss, while the second is packed with practical advice. ‘Off The Scales’ will be available from April 6th from Kenton Publishing, priced £8.99. For more information visit Jonathan’s website.

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