29/03/2024 10:48 AM

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Swing your Cooking

Woman who hit 20 stone as teen loses half her weight by ditching sausage rolls

A 20-stone woman who was so traumatised by struggling to find a prom dress to fit her has now lost half her body weight by changing to a vegetarian diet that meant cutting out sausage rolls and pasties.

Ellen Davies, 21, from London, always struggled with the pounds and at 16 weighed 20 stone which she admits worried her and parents Kevin, 40, and Clare, 39.

It was in 2016 when the situation came to a head though as Ellen was excited about going to her secondary school prom and picking a dress but at the shop they had nothing in her size – and she had to travel over two hours to find a dress that would fit her size 24 figure.

Ellen decided to visit her doctor just a few weeks later where they performed blood tests and hormone checks to see what the root of Ellen’s weight was.

They diagnosed her with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – a hormonal disorder in women that impacts ovary development and egg distribution – and told her that she would need to lose weight if she wanted to resolve the issue.








Ellen weighed 20 stone when she had to travel two hours to find a dress that would fit her size 24 figure
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Image:

MDWfeatures/@ells_rebecca)



She was crushed and spent most of her time crying at the reality that her weight had caused her health to suffer, but this made her determined to change her ways and finally lose the weight that had been holding her back for so long.

The weight began to drop off as she changed her diet from fewer processed snacks and sweets, along with generally eating less meat.

For the first time in years, Ellen felt great and started to enjoy losing weight and eventually went completely vegetarian after six months as she wanted to switch to an even healthier diet.

She was delighted at having to have her dress altered as it was too big for when she actually needed it for the prom.

After one year, Ellen had lost over 10 stone and was now a UK dress size 10 and weighed 10 stone.



Despite feeling proud of her progress, she was left with saggy, loose skin and as she wanted to fix this, she began weightlifting and powerlifting which helped tone up the skin around her thighs and bottom, but didn’t do much for her stomach and breasts.

In September 2019, Ellen visited a doctor for a consultation where they suggested having a abdominoplasty – a tummy tuck – and mastopexy augmentation – breast lift with implants – which she was terrified about at first as she had never had surgery before but £13,000 later, she couldn’t have been happier with the outcome.

Ellen, a hairdresser, now feels the most confident she’s ever felt about her body and believes that losing weight has changed her life for the better. She shares her journey on TikTok, and helps those who want to lose weight achieve their goals.








Ellen has managed to lose a considerable amount of weight, dropping now to a size 10
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Image:

MDWfeatures/@ells_rebecca)



“I believe my weight loss journey started when I was just sixteen-years-old, as this was the time when I was getting ready to go to my prom and was looking for the dream dress to wear. I was so excited but after visiting the dress shop and finding out they had no dresses in my size, I was crushed,” said Ellen.

“Myself and my mum had to travel over two hours to a dress shop that stocked a UK size 24 which was absolutely humiliating and I started to get very concerned about my weight and body.

“I think overeating and overindulgence initially led to my weight gain, as I would always snack on chocolate and crisps whenever I was feeling peckish and could never turn down food which I believe was my biggest downfall.

“I tried Slimming World in 2016 shortly after picking out my dress, but this didn’t lead to any progress so I decided to visit my doctor who took some blood tests and did some hormone checks as I was so overweight.



“I was heartbroken as the doctor diagnosed me with polycystic ovary syndrome and said that if I wanted to ‘cure’ my condition, I would have to lose weight otherwise I could end up not being able to have children.

“I cried for hours at the reality of my weight causing such a serious health issue, but this made me determined to finally shift the pounds and change my habits, which is exactly what I did.”

Ellen began researching healthy ways to change her diet and began eating foods such as whole wheat pasta and bread, as well more fish and less meat.








She has gone completely vegetarian, cutting out sausage rolls and pasties
(

Image:

MDWfeatures/@ells_rebecca)



“After a few weeks, I could see the weight just falling off and although I never initially weighed myself, I could tell that I had lost a significant amount of weight when I tried on my dress a few weeks before prom and had to get it altered as it was now too big,” said Ellen.

“I couldn’t believe it as it wouldn’t even zip up before because I was so big and I felt great for the first time in so many years and I actually started to enjoy losing weight, which I never thought I’d say.

“After six months, I decided to go completely vegetarian as I wanted to see if I could make my diet even healthier and within a couple of months, I started to lose more weight without even watching what I ate.



“Within one year, I had lost over ten-stone which I couldn’t believe and was down from a UK dress size twenty-four to a UK dress size ten and I finally started to feel confident about myself and the way I looked once again.

“However, along with extreme weight loss comes very loose skin, which was one of the biggest downsides to my journey. I began weightlifting and powerlifting seven times a week to help tone up my body and after two years, my legs and bottom were no longer saggy.

“Despite this, my stomach and breasts still looked the same and I began looking into surgery where I came across Doctor Dan Marsh on Instagram.

“After my initial consultation, I was sold and I booked in to have a tummy tuck and breast lift in September 2019 which set me back thirteen-thousand-pounds.

“I was terrified at first as I had never had surgery before, but I immediately saw the results and was completely overwhelmed with how good my body looked.

“Recovery was very long and hard where I couldn’t walk for six weeks Although I had no pain, there was a lot of discomfort but my body after the surgery made me feel so happy.

“All my life, I would constantly see super slim women on the television and in advertising and I was always bigger, which made me feel like a giant but now, I was one of those people and losing weight has changed my life for the better.”

Ellen has switched from the sausage rolls and pastries and instead will have a vegan protein shake for breakfast, hemp powder, flax seeds and peanut butter on toast for lunch and snacks on frozen smoothies and protein bars instead of processed savoury snacks.

She also now runs and goes to the gym to lift weights five times a week which helps keep her figure in shape.



“One of the hardest things about losing weight was never feeling good enough. Even now, I still have days where I feel like I have to train harder and get insecure about my body but I always tell myself to not focus on how I look, but to focus on how I feel,” said Ellen.

“I never used to get any comments about my body before, but now boys don’t even know how to act around me. I have people who used to make fun of me in school trying to flirt with me and turning them down brings a great feeling.

“I’ve had hundreds of comments from people online who have seen my weight loss journey saying that I’m their inspiration and telling me how much I motivate them which feels great and I have started giving advice to people who want to get healthy.

“Little steps create big achievements and although it can take a long time to see results, you can’t give up. There is no time limit and there is no right or wrong – just do what feels right for you and your life will become so much better.”