Mum loses 46 kilos after her cheating husband and his mistress attack her weight

A formerly obese mum in the US has lost just over 46 kilograms after being attacked for her weight by her cheating husband's lover.

Betsy Ayala from Houston, Texas, tipped the scales at 119kgs after giving birth to her daughter, Isabella, in 2013.

Just six months later, the marketing manager discovered her now ex-husband was having an affair, after finding messages between him and his lover making fun of her size.

However, the tough mum vowed not to be defeated and began to work out with her sister and switched sugary snacks for healthy shakes.

Now the 34-year-old, who hits the gym six-times-a-week and is a svelte 72kgs, considers her husband’s cheating a blessing in disguise as it gave her the fresh start she hoped for.

“I didn’t know what to do with myself at the time,” she said, adding: “I was still over 100kgs with a 6-month-old and everything that I had worked for had just vanished.

“Now I honestly feel that what he did was a blessing because otherwise I would have been the way I was forever.

“I prayed all the time for my life to change and my prayers were answered just maybe not in the way I envisioned but I got a second shot at a fresh start and I'm grateful for that.

"It’s changed everything in my life.

“I would cry after every workout and it was then that I decided that this would not define me and I was going to change for me and for my daughter.

“I wanted her to be proud of her mum and I wanted to be an example for her.”

Betsy says she's had a life-long struggle with her weight, which stemmed from anxiety and went on her first diet at the age of 13.

“I was always the chubby kid, I never played sports or wanted to take in physical activity because I was overweight. I did get bullied in school and got picked on.

“I think for me eating was like self-medication," she said.

“I had anxiety and instead of dealing with the real source of my anxiety I would eat and then that would become the source of my anxiety and I would eat some more and it was just a vicious cycle.”

At college she ballooned to 95kgs and when she gave birth to Isabella she reached 119kgs.

Betsy said: “After I had my daughter I was the heaviest I had ever been.

“My 14-year relationship was very strained and I was in a very severe postpartum depression and anxiety.

“I couldn’t sleep and I had no desire to function at all but I had a newborn so it was a very difficult time.”

In an attempt to get healthy, Betsy turned to Herbalife shakes in 2013 and lost 27kgs in four months, but the real tipping point came when she discovered her husband’s affair.

She said: “I started having more energy and losing weight, even though that wasn’t really my intention at the time and slowly started to get better.

“I started in September and was doing okay until two days after Christmas, when I found out my husband was cheating on me with a co-worker.

“I had been with him since I was 17 and pretty much devoted my life to our relationship and him.

“I was devastated. I found out through some messages I read on his Facebook where they were calling me a cow and fat and just trashing me and my whole world fell apart.

“He would always tell me I looked fine or would try to get me to eat junk all the time, which is why I was so devastated when I read those messages because it was almost like he enabled me or wanted me to stay that way.”

In March the next year she started a motivational work out with her sister, doing dance and Zumba three-days-a-week.

Then, she started running and weight lifting at the gym six-times-a-week while sticking to a high protein diet.

Betsy said: “I’m a completely different person both on the inside and outside because of my outlook on everything.

“I was always very negative and had a chip on my shoulder because I was unhappy with me.

“I’m happier, I’m confident and most of all I’m positive.

“I know that I’m capable of so much and I’m so happy to set a good example for my daughter which is extremely important for me.”

Surprisingly, there is no bitterness and Betsy says: “My ex-husband and I are actually good now.

“It took me a while to get to that place of forgiveness but what he did was about him and not me.

“My journey has really helped me understand that.”

Sarah Francis for Caters News