‘Trolls call me fat and GP says stop eating cake – but I can’t help my big legs’

A woman with ‘tree trunk’ legs revealed how she’s fat-shamed for something that’s not her fault.

Emma Martin, from Worcestershire, always felt that her legs looked a little different from her peers – no matter how much she exercised or what she ate.

Even in primary school, she compared her legs to her classmates and would receive playground taunts about the appearance of her lower limbs.

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And at the age of just 17, Emma was apparently told by a GP to ‘stop eating cake’.

Her legs felt heavy and painful and she would even struggle to find clothing that would fit past her ankles – making life miserable for Emma.

Late last year, the trainee barrister reached her breaking point after consistently being told that her diet and ‘lack’ of physical activity were at fault.

The 23-year-old decided to search for help abroad to treat the pain and discomfort and was diagnosed with lipoedema – the abnormal build-up of fat in your legs.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, Emma spoke candidly about her condition and the cruel trolling she’s had to endure.

“I always had bigger legs than everybody else,” Emma explained.

“I remember being in primary school and the girls saying to me ‘your thighs are so much bigger than mine’ and I remember being so upset about it to my mum after school and saying ‘why have I got much bigger legs than my friends’.

“In photos next to my sister you can definitely see the shape of my legs compared to hers.

“I’ve been back and forth to the doctors for other reasons and they said ‘perhaps you could try and get your weight down’.

“I used to say I’m eating fine and that I go to the gym.

“The rest of my body was fine – you could see the ribs on me – but my legs were obviously the heaviest part.

“But the doctors just told me to exercise more and eat less cake.

“The first time they told me to eat ‘better’ was when I was 17.”

Being told that she was at fault had an impact on Emma – who struggled with body confidence issues and had, at times, a bad relationship with food.

And despite her interest in fashion, she was limited to what she could wear because of the lipoedema in her legs.

They would often swell up by the end of the day and she worried they’d look like “tree trunks”.

Emma receives cruel comments from trolls – with some branding her “fat” while creepy men fetishise her “thick thighs”.

“In terms of the way the look, they’re tree trunk shape is how I describe them to people – they’re just very solid,” Emma said.

“I couldn’t fit into things like jeans and boots so I’d wear a lot of leggings, dresses and tights so things I could fit into a bit easier.

“They would ache if I were to go on longer walks or if I were to be on my feet all day, my knees would really ache.

“They would swell by the end of the day as well so if I were wearing leggings I’d have a cuff on the bottom of my leggings.

“I obviously didn’t like the way they looked, I felt like I must be doing something wrong and that I wasn’t eating right.

“And it affected the way I thought about food, I attempted to eat as little as possible.

“So I just looked at them and thought if it’s going to get worse, I’d rather have it done now.”

Emma’s life changed when she saw a tweet from Love Island contestant Shaughna Phillips who spoke about her struggle with lipoedema.

She did some research into the condition and found she had similar symptoms, which led to her reaching out to a clinic in Madrid that specialised in lipoedema.

Emma booked a €50 (£43.47) online consultation with the surgeon and was diagnosed straight away.

As she was at stage one of four of the condition, she wanted to get surgery to prevent the diseased fat from growing ahead of her wedding next year.

She’s now had two out of four surgeries and discovered that she also has lipoedema on her arms.

Along with travel costs and the surgery, she’s had to wipe away her savings and is now considering taking out a loan.

Each surgery costs €5,575 (£4,846.38) – and with travel costs on top of that, the total so far has reached about £14,000.

Emma is not willing to put a price on her health and with already 10L of diseased fat being removed by surgeons, she’s already got a new lease of life.

“I feel so much better,” Emma gushed.

“I know obviously it’s so much money in it and if you’re able to do it and I think it’s such an investment in your health, I don’t think you can put a price on that.

“Obviously that’s a very privileged thing to be able to say, but it makes such a difference.

“I can walk and I think people aren’t looking at my legs because they’re normal size, or in photos I look back and think ‘oh my gosh don’t realize how big they were’ because the week before I was thinking maybe I’m being ‘dramatic’.

“Recovery is hard – the incisions are left open so you leak the fluid out. And it’s difficult for my partner as he has to take time off work and I was in a wheelchair for a little bit as well.

“But it’s definitely worth it, I’d do it all over again.”

According to the official NHS website: “Lipoedema is an abnormal build-up of fat in your legs and sometimes arms It can be painful and affect daily life.

“Lipoedema is more common in women. It usually affects both sides of the body equally.

“You may also have pain, tenderness or heaviness in the affected limbs, and you may bruise easily.

“Lipoedema can also cause knock knees, flat feet and joint problems, which can make walking difficult.

“It can be a difficult condition to live with and you may feel anxious or depressed.”

Emma is now raising awareness about lipoedema that affects around 11% of women globally and has racked up over 6,000 TikTok followers in the process.

To keep update with Emma’s journey, you can follow her on TikTok here.

For more information about the condition you can access the NHS website, here.

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