Miss Egypt Farah Sedky, who represented her country at the Miss Universe 2017 pageant on Sunday, recently opened up about her journey from battling morbid obesity to becoming a national beauty queen.
Speaking to People magazine, the 23-year-old said she was bullied for weighing around 100 kilograms during her teenage years.
She has since cleaned up her diet and adopted a healthy lifestyle, making it all the way to the international beauty pageant.
"I've learned how to love myself, which was the hardest thing I had to learn,” she told People.
Sedky, who graduated with the highest honors from Ain Shams University, competed in Miss Universe 2017 on November 26. The competition saw Miss South Africa, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, take home the title.
In the lead-up to the pageant, Sedky said she was considered "morbidly obese" as a teenager, adding that she was severely bullied by her classmates in an all-girls school.
"I was brutally bullied and to the point that I was once beaten by one of my peers," she said.
"To this day, I still remember her looking down at me on the ground and saying, 'I’d love to wake up tomorrow and not see you at school, no one will miss you if you’ll be gone forever.'"
At the age of 15, Sedky hit 220 pounds (100 kilograms) and her doctor said she would be diabetic within six months if she did not change her habits.
As a result, she set her mind on making all the necessary changes to get her life back on track.
“This was the first time that I saw my father cry, which motivated me to lose the weight and begin to maintain a healthy lifestyle," she explained.
"What clicked with me on an emotional level to start my journey was the fact that I knew I wasn't living up to my full potential."
How did she lose the weight? Lots of lemon!
Sedky shed about 36 kilograms the old-fashioned way. She cut down her portion sizes, refrained from eating carbohydrates at night, added lemon to her meals, and of course, started working out on a daily basis.
"[Lemon] is so important Queen B [Beyoncé] made an entire album about it," she joked.
She went on to say that she has yogurt with half a lemon and cinnamon and drinks lemon with hot water in the morning to boost her digestive system.
"I want to be a role model for little girls, just as I needed to have at their age"
Reflecting on her journey, Sedky said the biggest challenge she has encountered is learning to love herself.
Having maintained a healthy lifestyle, she now hopes to become "a role model for little girls" and spread body positivity.
"I truly believe it's time to show women that they should appreciate, accept and love their bodies the way they are," she said.
"It's about time that we all come together, not just for women but also for children, to make sure they grow up in a healthy environment where they won't feel pressured to focus on fitting in, and fitting a certain perception on beauty. Instead, they will grow to focus on developing their aspirations.”